Worldwide, an estimated 40 million children are subjected to child abuse each year. 

An ultra-endurance runner is hoping Run2Heal, a cross-country marathon run will provide a platform for survivors to break the silence and stigma that surrounds talking about child abuse.

It's an issue Christian Griffith has dealt with personally.

"I'm a victim of childhood sexual abuse myself and so I'm running 3,000 miles from New York to San Francisco across the United States to raise a million bucks for the prevention and treatment of child abuse," said Griffith.

Griffith says the abuse started in his teens, first at the hands of his mother, then by a number of men.

"I am currently in treatment right now. I'm in therapy and it's saving my life and I want to share that message with others and I want to show others how they can use therapy to save their lives you know there is a whole army of us out there that have been through this. So it's amazing," Griffith said.

Griffith partnered with Help for Children (HFC) to launch Run2Heal, a 3,000-mile journey across the country. Griffith runs 30-35 miles a day, five days a week. He hopes to finish in San Francisco in August. 

Wednesday afternoon, Griffith made a stop in Vienna.

"I'm holding up. My body is good. I'm doing a lot of recovery and eating as well as I can and I'm moving slowly and just getting it done," said Griffith.

He's getting it done so that other child abuse victims can see there is hope for recovery.

"I want people to know and understand that there are a lot of people that suffer from child abuse and child sexual abuse and it's important that you talk about and then after you talk about it, it's important that you seek treatment," Griffith said.

Griffith said if you are looking for inspiration or motivation, you can follow his journey at run2heal.org or you can follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.