Since the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) joined forces with the TT International Marathon (TTIM) in 2015 to help generate funds for national Olympians, disabled activist Anton Lafond has always completed the 26.2-mile trek for a worthy cause.

For an eighth consecutive year, Lafond will join TTOC president Brian Lewis and his small team of sport officials and administrators to cover the distance. Every year, he walks for different causes.

This time around, Lafond will walk to raise awareness for 'community life', particularly for those who are elderly and disabled.

He believes the elderly have lost their input and importance in communities and decisions made while the disabled have always been 'left behind.'

Lafond said, 'This year, I have dedicated myself as an advocate and activist to bring back the life of the elderly and disabled in the community. Communities in TT have lost their glue.

'There was a time when the community dealt with serious aspects of the country, far less their own community. We have lost this connection. I am walking for the revival for elderly and disabled people in the community.'

Lafond is a transportation planner and works primarily with elderly and disabled people. He even asked if the public is aware of what disabled people must endure using something as common as public transportation, far less enter buildings and other infrastructure.

'It's sad but it's a real issue. There was a time when we could have sat with our elders, revisit the history and given us some form of advice. But on the contrary, they are disrespected now,' he added.

Lewis and his team will be the only physical participants of the 2022 TTIM owing to covid19 protocols.

The remaining participants must complete the distance virtually while a selected few, based on prior performances, have been specially chosen to cover the distance over a four-lap circuit in Chaguaramas.

Lewis' crew undertakes the traditional distance which begins from St Mary's Junction, Freeport to Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, from 2 am.

He called on the public to rethink their thought and actions towards the elderly and disabled because 'life is a mirror.'

Lafond continued, 'Since Brian Lewis started this Athlete and Welfare Fund, I always tried to do something positive. Community life will castrate a heap of problems if we could get that back; socially and spiritually.

'Where did we go wrong? In my own small little world, I'll try. A priest in Fatima told me once if you throw enough mud at a wall some will stick. I responded saying they might grease the wall but he said to keep throwing.

'At a moment's notice, any person could become disabled, because you never know.'

Lafond and Lewis are also graduates of Fatima College.