Kentucky resident rolls giant globe through Manatee County on Christmas Eve for diabetes

Kentucky resident rolls giant globe through Manatee County on Christmas Eve

BRADENTON -- A man, his son, a dog and a giant globe rolled through Palmetto and downtown Bradenton on Christmas Eve in an effort to raise awareness about diabetes.

Erik Bendl, a 53-year-old Louisville, Ky., native has been walking across the country for almost a decade in honor of his mother, who died of diabetes when she was 54. He started with walks through Kentucky.

One of his first extensive walks was from Louisville to Pittsburgh for his uncle's 80th birthday party. He showed up two weeks late.

"It's a good thing it was a surprise party," he said with a laugh.

On his way from Tampa to Naples, he stopped in downtown Bradenton outside the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce to talk about diabetes and the health effects of walking.

"Little walks add up and you feel better," he said. "It's a little bit everyday."

Bendl, accompanied by his 24-year-old son, Ethan Bendl, said he hoped to hit the Manatee County beaches before continuing on his way. Ethan was nonchalant about the trip, his dad's been walking like this since he was a child.

"I was like 9," he said. "I didn't think much of it."

Erik walks about 10 miles a day -- depending on how many people he stops to chat with -- and uses a bright purple support van as home base and to get around when not on foot. He's often been the beneficiary of the kindness of strangers, he said, who often drive him back to his van at the end of the day. He said he uses the giant globe, which has basic information about diabetes on it, so people don't think he's a vagabond just wandering around with his dog, Nice.

He started his walk from Tampa a few days ago and said he plans to reach Naples in a few days. He crossed the Green Bridge from Palmetto before arriving in downtown Bradenton.

"I got a police escort over the bridge," he said.

He's walked all across the country, and he plans his trips depending on the weather and the seasons. He's gone from Fort Lauderdale to Savannah, Pensacola to Tampa, and one of his all-time favorites was walking from Poughkeepsie to Schenectady in New York last summer.

"I stopped counting at 6,000 miles," he said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Kentucky resident rolls giant globe through Manatee County on Christmas Eve for diabetes ."