OXFORD, Miss. (WTVA) – A 1,200-mile journey from Oxford to the Big Apple has ended.Skyler King finished a 43-day skateboard journey from Oxford to New York City. King crossed nine states to raise awareness about suicide prevention.“I took one and a half rest days,” he said. “I should have taken more.”Started after brother’s deathKing said he lost his brother, Justin, two years ago to suicide. He said he wanted to get people talking about mental health, and a skateboard trip across nine states was hard to miss.“They see a guy skating down the road, and they’re like, ‘What is this guy doing?’” King said. “They’re like, ‘What the heck, you’re crazy.’ But then doing something like that brings attention to it.”King described his brother as someone who often quoted movies.“Man, he was such a character. He’d always said quotes from movies that just kind of hit you,” King said.Strangers along the routeKing said strangers slowed down to check on him or opened their homes to him during the trip.He said that gave him a reason to talk about his brother, and he said almost every time, someone shared their own family’s struggles.“I cried a lot. It was pretty emotional, but I needed that,” King said. “Now I have made some lifelong friends in places I wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t done that.”King rolled into New York City on day 43. He said reaching the city marked the end of the road, but the goal was getting people to listen along the way.“Check in on your friends, call your family, even small talk with strangers go a long way,” King said. “I think what’s important is to be there for one another. You never know what someone is going through.”Copyright 2026 WTVA. All rights reserved.