Lapping Australia for kids with cancer
By Samantha Elley
Almost as if straight from a comic book, Australia has its own super hero.
Captain Australia aka Simon Harvey was 11 days in on his Big Lap of Australia when I met up with him just south of the Woodburn shops.
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Having started from Brisbane on July 16, Captain Australia plans to take 18-24 months as he raises money and awareness for The Kids’ Cancer Project.
“(The idea) just started as I needed to walk for my own healing and the after stages of cancer,” he said.
“The Captain Australia persona really helps the charity.”
Simon knows the devastation cancer can inflict on human life, having had stage four mouth cancer and given only six months to live.
“One of the biggest kick in the guts was not facing up to dying but facing up to leaving my sons behind,” he said.
“I live in the light of the love of my children.
“I would be nothing without (them) and the idea of losing one to cancer, it makes my own fight of stage four cancer that I was not meant to survive, like no big deal.
“But the idea of a child having to grow through the gruelling treatments – I had a feeding tube into my stomach which you sometimes sicked up afterwards and you had blood as there was damage in there from the chemo.
“All of my problems are trivial next to the idea that there are a thousand Aussie kids every year who have to face up to it.”
Captain Australia in Woodburn. Photo: Samantha Elley
Simon said there were 20 per cent of children who didn’t survive, equal to three every week that died in our hospitals.
“The ones that do survive have to deal with ringing in their ears, or lack of joy in food, or thyroid irregularity,” he said.
For that reason Simon has donned his shoes, straightened his Captain Australia mask and set off to do 15,000+ kilometres to raise money and awareness for all those young people.
“I am going to go through $4,000 of these boots,” he said pointing to his feet.
“These ones are already worn down as they are the ones I finished the Big Walk in from Brisbane to Melbourne.
“I just wanted to get that last bit of value out of them.”
Simon’s first Big Walk was done in 2021 for The Kids Cancer Project as well.
He discovered that being of service amplifies everything you could do to help yourself. Helping others helps yourself.
“I’ve worked all my life,” he said.
“The cancer hit, then after that Covid hit and I owned and operated a travel insurance company, dependant on international travel largely.
“Because it was a successful business we were ahead on the mortgage so there was enough room to move financially.”
Because Simon’s business crashed due to no one travelling through Covid, his doctor had suggested he go on a disability pension, taking into consideration all his health issues at the time.
It was the memory, however, of a walk he took as a child, that wove hope into his life.
“I didn’t want to be defined by my weaknesses and my problems,” he said.
“I would rather have one hopeful shot at overcoming them and weaving that hope, and making that stronger really worked and I got better and better.”
He finished the Big Walk leaner and stronger and raised $165,000 for pediatric cancer research, but over time he let things slide.
Fast forward to 2023 and he felt a sense of agency and urgency as to what to do with the rest of his life.
Captain Australia with Millie Trustum, also a cancer survivor, at Wardell. Contributed.
Simon said he felt a calling as he didn’t finish the walk and he needed to keep on going.
“South until there’s no more south and west until there’s no more west and completely walk around Australia,” he said.
Hence, the idea of the Big Lap and the goal to raise $1 million for children’s cancer research, was born and since July 16 Simon has walked for 12 to 16 hours each day, taking 10 minute breaks every hour.
He was kind enough to take a longer break to talk to me, although I have a sneaking suspicion he was pleased for the excuse to quit his backpack and sit for a while as we chatted.
He sleeps in a hammock at night with a tarp over him to keep out the wet and as much of the cold winter nights as possible.
“(The family) recognise this is a worthy thing,” he said.
“So we took a family vote and each school holidays they will fly out to meet me.”
Already after 11 days Simon has met a number of people who have made an impression on him.
Young Millie Trustum, who was diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and has just turned 12 years old, met Captain Australia when he was at Wardell.
On his Facebook page, Captain Australia’s BIG LAP, Simon has received many words of support and encouragement, but there is room for many more followers.
If you are inclined to help Captain Australia on his trek around the country, and at the same time children suffering from cancer, you can become a subscriber at https://www.facebook.com/CapsBIGLAP/supporters or go to https://captainaustralia.online/donate/ to donate directly.
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