STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — This week’s ‘Hometown Hero’ is celebrating a major milestone while also raising awareness for a cause close to his heart.

It started as a personal fitness challenge for Jason Shipley – run a 5K every day for one year, but now, almost three years later, it’s become something much more.

“I was able to start just getting into the rhythm, and it became a part of my identity,” Jason admits. “I started to say, I am a runner, and I started to identify, like, this is who I am, this is what I’m going to do.”

But the journey hasn’t been easy.

Along the way, unimaginable tragedy struck Jason’s family.

On May 13, 2024, his 3-year-old daughter died in an accidental drowning in their backyard pool.

“She was the light of my world. She was daddy’s girl, and that was obviously the worst day of my life, horrible,” he recalls. “It was just 20 seconds of not paying attention, like it can happen so fast, and she had her puddle jumper on, she just slipped out. So, you know, you just assume, if it’s sold in the store, it’s safe, but those are not safe because they’re not a safety device, right? So, it’s about being hyper vigilant, being hyper aware, and there is no amount of time that you cannot be paying attention.”

After that day, Jason found a new purpose in his daily runs.

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“Just running and crying and pushing through that grief and just basically using it as a method to physically release that grief.”

More recently, he turned that grief into action, marking his 1000th 5k with a fundraiser for Live Like Jake—a local nonprofit dedicated to preventing childhood drownings.

“They were there for me during that time of need and I really felt called to give back in some way and it turned into a really good thing,” Jason says. “People came in from all over the country and people were running with us all around the world, in Europe and Australia and all over so it was really neat.”

That event raised $11,500 for the Live Like Jake Foundation, which means they will be able to provide nearly 30 self-rescue swim lesson scholarships to families around the country.

Jason says he’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other, using his steps to help save lives and inspire others.

“Childhood drowning is a great cause to raise awareness around, but I think just being consistent, because most people lack the daily discipline of just showing up every day for themselves, so if I can help one person show up every day for themselves, that’s kind of what it’s all about for me.”