Dennis Kinch, the man who is walking west on Route 66 for the National Pain Foundation, was in Tulsa on Friday at the Pain Evaluation & Treatment Center to tell his story and meet with others who suffer from chronic pain.
Kinch is successfully coping with chronic pain from Paget’s disease and ankylosing spondylitis after struggling with it for years. He’ll be walking on Route 66 through June, telling his story and giving inspiration to others who suffer from pain.
Upon meeting Kinch, I noticed he looks younger than the pictures on his Web site, despite his graying goatee and bald head. He looks fit and trim, as you’d expect from a man who walks 20 to 30 miles a day.
He wears an orange vest so motorists can see him more readily. It’s starting to get covered with autographs, including one by fellow long-distance walker Steve Vaught, which reads:
fatmanwalking.com
11-28-05
Steve Vaught
paths crossed in Vinita, OK
I asked Kinch about his meeting with Vaught at Clanton’s Cafe in Vinita. He described Vaught as upbeat and determined to finish his trek across America, “just like a Marine.” The two spent much of their three hours at Clanton’s “talking shop” about their walks and meeting with locals.
Kinch said it took him six months to recover from his first long-distance walk, a 400-mile trek from Boston to Washington, D.C. On Route 66, he’s already walked more than 600 miles, and the only problems are one blister and “a little pain” in his ankle and hip. At one point, he walked for 47 hours straight.
He said he didn’t truly understand how to deal with pain until near the end of his Boston-to-Washington trek. A combination of positive thinking and spirituality finally coalesced. He said he’s not a religious person, but “you need to believe in something higher than yourself … It wasn’t my belief; the belief was given to me. (The walk) was my education. Every day that I walk, it’s spirituality that gets you there.”
Kinch says he’s been astounded by how often people have stopped to ask him whether he needed help. One time in Oklahoma, a man stopped and prayed for him. In the Northeast, Kinch says, residents simply don’t stop on the side of the road to help people.
Kinch stayed at the Pain Evaluation Center about two hours longer than his scheduled time because they were inspired by his story and entertained by his anecdotes. He’s a terrific storyteller, with a natural comedic timing that makes one think he ought to have a future as a full-time motivational speaker.
I offered to give Kinch a ride back to his room at the Desert Hills Motel, and he accepted. I provide a quick tour of Tulsa’s Route 66 on 11th Street (he was impressed with the Art Deco buildings). He confessed that he didn’t know Tulsa was so big. “I thought, for some reason, I was walking into a town of about 5,000 people.”
If you see an orange-vested fellow pulling a two-wheeled wheelbarrow behind him, it’ll probably be Kinch. Stop and give him a few bucks to help keep him walking. If you can’t get on Route 66 and want to contribute, you can donate money here.