Personal life She is the National Spokesperson for the Bell Canada 'Let's Talk Mental Health' initiative, including Bell 'Let's Talk Day'. Hughes uses her past struggles with depression to relate to others and to help combat issues including the stigma involved with mental health issues. "Hughes battled deep depression, which threatened to derail her life, after winning two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Olympics." Since 2013, Hughes has initiated annual bike rides across Canada in order to raise awareness about mental health. In 2015, a CTV-produced documentary Clara's Big Ride premiered on the fifth annual Bell Let's Talk Day (a national mental health awareness day in Canada). Her memoir, Open Heart, Open Mind, was published in 2015.
Personal life She is the National Spokesperson for the Bell Canada 'Let's Talk Mental Health' initiative including Bell 'Let's Talk Day' Hughes uses her past struggles with depression to relate to others and to help combat issues including the stigma involved with mental health issues "Hughes battled deep depression which threatened to derail her life after winning two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Olympics" Since 2013 Hughes has initiated annual bike rides across Canada in order to raise awareness about mental health In 2015 a CTV-produced documentary Clara's Big Ride premiered on the fifth annual Bell Let's Talk Day (a national mental health awareness day in Canada) Her memoir Open Heart Open Mind was published in 2015