What started out as a year-long trek of hope for a Seattle soccer fan turned into tragedy Tuesday.
Richard Branson, the man who set out to trek 10,000 miles dribbling a soccer ball to Brazil in time for the 2014 World Cup, was struck and killed by a pickup truck at about 10 a.m. PST, near the city limits of Lincoln City, Ore., The Associated Press reported.
According to local police, Branson, 42, was walking south along U.S. Highway 101 when he was struck. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver has not been charged.
Swanson had set out to dribble a blue soccer ball made by One World Futbol, which donates soccer balls to youths in disadvantaged communities, such as refugee camps, war zones, disaster areas and inner cities, the One World Futbol Project's website proclaims.
Swanson had created a website, BreakawayBrazil.com, to chronicle his journey from Seattle to Sao Paolo. On the site, he described himself as "avid runner, soccer player, and all around lover of the Pacific Northwest."
He left Seattle on May 1 and planned to go through 11 countries before reaching Sao Paolo.
Oregonlive.com reported that Lincoln City Police Lt. Jerry Palmer said a blue soccer ball like the one Swanson was playing with in the video was found with him.
Palmer said Swanson was near the south city limits around 10 a.m. when Scott Van Hiatt, 52, of Neskowin, Ore., struck him from behind in a 1995 Nissan pickup. Palmer said Hiatt remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
Swanson posted a video to YouTube shortly before his death, Oregonlive.com added, talking about how excited he was about the stretch of the trek we was on that included a view of the Pacific Ocean.
"Very exciting moment today," he said in the video. "Going to be on the ocean for thousands of miles. This is my first taste of it and I'm very excited about it."
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