By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Summer\u2019s passing from pneumonia there.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter passed away in Perth, I wasn\u2019t there, she was with her mum on holiday. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019ve come out the other side\u2026I want to show people that whatever they\u2019re going through, they can get through it as well,\u201d Mr Griffiths told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019re the only thing stopping me at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
A \u201cpretty stubborn\u201d man by his own admission, Mr Griffiths said the journey \u2013 which he\u2019s calculated at 3,132 kilometres \u2013 will see him doing over 30 kilometres of walking each day.<\/p>\n
Mr Griffiths plans to meet with the Royal Children\u2019s Hospital following the completion of the walk, and leave his details with them for families in need to contact him directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously 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\u2019s friends made a GoFundMe page for us and the donations paid for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I want to do when I get back from Perth is help other parents who have to bury their kids, because it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday 17 July Mr Griffiths stayed at the Ballan Caravan Park, with his accommodation donated by the park.<\/p>\n
To view Mr Griffiths\u2019 fundraiser and make a donation, head to www.gofundme.com\/f\/9ddz5-walk-from-melbourne-to-perth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n