John Olsen is planning to walk 10 million steps to raise much-needed funds for leukodystrophy support.
Mr Olsen believes 10 million steps is roughly how many it will take him to walk the 5000 kilometres from Cape Leveque in northern Western Australia to Cape Howe on the Victorian-New South Wales border.
When he sets off with his cart, Wilson, on Sunday, April 17 it will be the fourth time the 70-year-old has walked across the country unaided.
“It should take me somewhere between five and a half to six months, depending on whether everything goes well,” Mr Olsen said.
“If you average my mileage out it should be around 36 kilometres per day. I’ll probably start off at 12 kilometres per day and within a couple of days go up to 15 and build it up slowly.
“I normally get up to between 40 and 45 kilometres each day for most of the walk.”
Having already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for leukodystrophy during his previous walks, he has set himself a goal to raise $100,000 for his final walk.
Leukodystrophy is a collection of rare progressive genetic diseases that affect the brain, spinal cord and often the peripheral nerves.
The disease is close to Mr Olsen’s heart after his partner Vida lived with the disease until she passed away in 2014.
“It’s a disease that affects male children mainly,” he said.
“It’s fatal. They don’t normally live longer than 15 years of age, 18 if they’re lucky.
“The defective genes are carried by the mothers and my partner was unlucky enough that she actually became symptomatic with the illness herself.
“That’s where I got involved and became part of the leukodystrophy family, I guess.
“It’s not a well-known disease, there’s only about 400 cases in Australia.”
Mr Olsen said he thought his last walk, done in 2016, would be his last.
“The last one I did was in her memory and that was going to be my last one because it nearly killed me,” he said.
“I had a bad knee and I had trouble with a hiatus hernia … [which meant] I couldn’t eat or drink for two or three days at a time.
“But that’s all been fixed up now, I’ve had a half knee replacement and I just turned 70, and I knew I had to do it.
“The consequences of not doing it and then sitting in a nursing home wishing I had were worse. I’d be a grumpy old man for the rest of my life.”
While he will be on the walk by himself, Mr Olsen has been receiving support with planning from the Lions Club of Geelong Corio Bay and local businesses supplying the gear, including shoes and a sleeping bag.
“I’ve been planning the walk for the last two or three years in my head, but it’s only in the last couple of months it has come together,” he said.
“I’ve been preparing Wilson because he’s been sitting in the backyard for the last six years under a tarp and he needed a bit of work.
“But it’s all come together and having already done it three times now, I’m feeling pretty good about it.
“On my second walk I was walking through the desert and sand and that was physically tough, so it makes this one look easy even though I’m a little bit older.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Details: leuko.org.au/thelongwalk
