PERSONAL trainer Warren Wright from Tamworth is on a mission.
He endeavours to walk 4000 kilometres from Tamworth to Adelaide and back to raise awareness for mental health.
Beginning his journey on September 9, he has already clocked over 1000 kilometres on foot, passing by Swan Hill earlier this week.
“I suffer depression myself, I was doing cancer awareness stuff before now and I wanted to make a difference,” Mr Wright told The Guardian.
The 45-year-old said he had suffered depression most of his life.
“I denied it for a long time before I finally came out last year,” he said.
“Our mental depression, goes in all stages like the drought. I saw a lot of that in NSW, including a lot of suicides.
“But, you’ve got to lead by example and (the walk) is helping me.”
A solo expedition, Mr Wright is travelling the road to Adelaide and back with his trail buggy ‘Bluey’ carrying a sleeping bag, first aid kit, tent, cooker, box of food and vitamins.
“I’ve been really lucky, I’ve been put up with a lot of towns and different people helping me out along the way by donating food and water,” he said.
“I’m not making any money on this trip, everything raised is going towards Beyond Blue.”
Mr Wright said he had already come across several challenges in his journey, saying some days were like “dodge ball”.
“The Hay plains, that was very hard and very boring. I had three days of it,” he said.
“And today, the road from Tooleybuc to Swan Hill, was really hard. The road had no shoulder, it’s all gravel and felt like a human game of dodge ball at times.”
Yet despite the distance, stress and “very sore toes”, Mr Wright is determined to keep going.
“You have your days when you wake up and think ‘do I really want to go to work, do I really want to do it’ — today was mentally hard but I crossed the border and it will be a day I’ll never forget,” he said.
“Tomorrow I’ll head back towards Manangatang, then Ouyen.
“People say I’m crazy, but it’s been so good seeing all the small towns and so many people helping out.”
Mr Wright said he set a goal to raise $1500 for Beyond Blue and has already achieved $1600.
“I was inspired by the work of Beyond Blue and wanted to support them. Now I want to take it to $5000.
“The more people that know about Beyond Blue, the greater their impact, so please spread the word and share my page with your friends and family.”
To follow Warren’s journey or give to Beyond Blue, visit his Facebook page ‘Wazza ultimate 4000kms journey for mental depression and cancer’.
