NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – A woman from Florida has been skating the streets of the Southeast on roller blades to raise awareness for brain injury survivors.

The trip started in Jacksonville, Florida and will end over 1,400 miles later in Boston, Massachusetts.  She skated through North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday.

Meredith McDonald is making the journey to spread the word on brain injuries after seeing her husband’s own struggles following a motorcycle accident four years ago.

The Big Skate is her way to draw attention to the 1.7 million Americans who suffer a brain injury each year and help bring survivors out of the darkness.

She and her husband, Nathan, started the non-profit BIG Life to provide resources for caregivers as well as survivors, who may be suffering in isolation.

“We’ve walked in those shoes and brain injury is still hard but we can choose everyday to live big and that’s by living everyday to the fullest because life is so fragile,” said McDonald.

They want to give hope to people who have been injured, because while the affects can last a life time, there is no reason a happy and rewarding future still can’t lie ahead.

“Because what we’ve found in brain injury is that it’s life changing, it’s life altering, but through that you can find what your true passion is and you can live really big,” said McDonald.

She says it’s been exhausting and exhilarating, but tired muscles and 50 mile days are a small price to pay to remind people of the seriousness of brain injuries.

Brain injuries can cause a wide range of changes in how people think, their behavior and have an impact on emotion; something she learned after her husband’s accident.

“That’s how our whole journey with brain injuries started was because of this accident and he was affected in so many ways, he was busted from the head down.  Everything internally, everything externally but nothing has impacted our life long term like brain injury has,” said McDonald.

Every mile McDonald skates is dedicated to people who have been impacted and is scheduled to reach Boston on October 14th.