Walking for Summer, in winter

By Lachlan Ellis

A Melbourne man is taking part in a mammoth effort to walk all the way to Perth in his fundraising efforts, and recently made a rest stop in Moorabool.

Shane Griffiths began his walk from Melbourne to Perth on Saturday July 15, and aims to arrive in Perth by November 5 to mark the sixth anniversary of his 7-year-old daughter’s Summer’s passing from pneumonia there.

Mr Griffiths said he hoped to raise mental health awareness with the walk, and support families with children who have passed away with the funds raised.

“My daughter passed away in Perth, I wasn’t there, she was with her mum on holiday. I wasn’t there to say goodbye, so I suppose this is getting some closure on that, and raising mental health awareness. I was in a bad place at the time, but I’ve come out the other side…I want to show people that whatever they’re going through, they can get through it as well,” Mr Griffiths told the Moorabool News.

“It’s going good so far, I had to stop at 20 kilometres today with the blisters on my feet, but hopefully they clear up soon. They’re the only thing stopping me at the moment.”

A “pretty stubborn” man by his own admission, Mr Griffiths said the journey – which he’s calculated at 3,132 kilometres – will see him doing over 30 kilometres of walking each day.

Mr Griffiths plans to meet with the Royal Children’s Hospital following the completion of the walk, and leave his details with them for families in need to contact him directly.

“Obviously the fundraiser I did was for myself to be able to fund the walk, but the rest I want to donate. When Summer passed away, we had to get her body back to Melbourne and organise a funeral. Luckily one of her mum’s friends made a GoFundMe page for us and the donations paid for that,” he said.

“What I want to do when I get back from Perth is help other parents who have to bury their kids, because it’s a big stress of losing your child, and then all of a sudden having to find all this money to pay for a funeral. I want it to directly go to help families that need that funding.”

On Monday 17 July Mr Griffiths stayed at the Ballan Caravan Park, with his accommodation donated by the park.

To view Mr Griffiths’ fundraiser and make a donation, head to www.gofundme.com/f/9ddz5-walk-from-melbourne-to-perth.