Big walk for little kids leaves footprints in Heathcote

TWO men on an epic two thousand, seven hundred and forty-kilometre trek to support children undergoing cancer treatment arrived in Heathcote last Thursday.

The pair, with their entourage, then departed on Friday morning at 6.15am, cheered on by a small group of local supporters.

Major Ed Orszulak and firefighter Seb Boehm left Brisbane on 23 July en route to the Royal Children’s Hospital to raise money for charity Camp Quality.

The idea for Ed’s Big, Big, Big Walk for Little Kids was conceived in 2019 by Boehm and another friend, retired Navy officer Dave Finney.

“Both had volunteered with Camp Quality and they asked me if I would like to join them,” said Major Orszulak.

“Of course, I said yes. It was an opportunity to better use my spare time.

“Sadly, Dave lost his battle with PTSD, leaving Seb and I even more determined to finish for him and the kids.

“It needed to be something really big to raise significant funds, hence Brisbane to Melbourne.

“Along the way our route has zig-zagged a bit so we could visit centres where there were clusters of families who have been touched by cancer.”

At the time of passing through Heathcote, the men had raised $86,000. By Monday, they’d raised $106,410.

“We are a little short of our goal at the moment but optimistic that we will get there with the momentum of our final week. We are tired but determined to keep going,” said said Major Orszulak.

“Early on we lost a few toenails between us but they’re growing back.

“And we had a lot blisters but our feet have toughened up and feel much better now.

“It was great to have the lovely Holmes family join us as we departed Heathcote and we’ve had family members and lots of others along the way.”

All money raised goes directly to Camp Quality and anyone who would like to donate or see highlights from the walk can go to edsbigimpact.au.