Soccer aficionado Richard Swanson set off to dribble a soccer ball 10,000 miles to Brazil to see the 2014 World Cup, but his 11-country,12-month tour was cut short on Tuesday when he was hit by a pickup truck and killed while traveling on a highway in Oregon.
Swanson, 42, of Seattle, Wash. departed his hometown for his trip to São Paulo May 1 and had traveled almost 300 miles on foot when he was hit by a pickup truck in Lincoln City, Ore. Tuesday, just two weeks into the journey.
The accident occurred at approximately 10:00am Tuesday morning on Highway 101 close the the Lincoln City city limits. The driver of the pickup, 52-year-old Scott Van Hiatt waited with Swanson until paramedics arrived. An ambulance took him to nearby Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital where he was declared dead. Van Hiatt is not facing any charges for his part in the incident.
Swanson had reportedly planned to travel to Brazil to fulfill his lifelong dream of attending the World Cup. Instead of flying there next year, however, he decided he would walk from the United States, through Central and South America to his final destination while dribbling a soccer ball. He set forth on this venture to raise money for a charity he was actively involved in called One World Futbol Project, which donates durable soccer balls to people in developing countries.
"We are deeply saddened to learn about Richard's death," Lisa Tarver, chief operating officer of One World Futbol Project said in a statement. "He was a very inspiring man who in a very short time walked his way into many lives."
Swanson had set up a Web site called Breakaway Brazil where he discussed the motivation behind his World Cup trip, gave fans insight into his personal life and chronicled the route of his fated journey. The path he had chosen to take began along the west coast of the United States then traveled through 11 countries including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and finally Brazil.
Swanson says that he felt destined that he should go on this trip and wrote on his website, "it will be a trip of a lifetime where I will push myself further than I ever thought possible."
Swanson, who would have celebrated his 43rd birthday on Sunday, is survived by his two sons Devin and Raven. Friends of the man say they are collaborating to raise money to send his boys to the World Cup in his honor.
"The hardest thing is he was so young," said Kristi Schwesinger, a friend of Swanson's. "Just today we were planning his surprise birthday party for Sunday. He was so full of life, so excited by the journey he was on. To be taken from us so soon is really heartbreaking."
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