Sunbury plumber rides to raise mental health awareness
Sunbury plumber Mick Day is riding from Sydney to Melbourne to raise money for Lifeline and raise awareness for mental health.
Leader
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After a good friend confided in Sunbury plumber Mick Day that she’d been having a rough time, he knew he had to help somehow.
Wanting to conquer the impossible for a good cause, Mr Day gave himself 10 days to ride from Sydney to Parliament House in Melbourne to raise money for Lifeline.
With thousands already raised and the support of his community behind him, Mr Day told the Leader he wants to change the conversation around mental health.
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“A friend of mine went through hell … I didn’t know how to help. When I found out she’d called Lifeline and they were really good, I figured I could help them,” he said.
Mr Day, who hopes to arrive in Melbourne on Saturday, wanted to take on an “impossible” challenge to raise funds.
“I thought I’d go for a ride and to make it hard, to seem impossible, I’d ride from Sydney to Melbourne,” he said.
“It’s just me, my swag and my bike.”
The community rallied, businesses came forward and midway through the trip around $5000 had been raised for Lifeline.
Mr Day said he’d run into his fair share of challenges by the time he crossed the Victorian border.
“I’m absolutely knackered,” he said.
“My bike was cleaned up by a car, thankfully I wasn’t riding it at the time.”
After the bike broke, two local businesses stepped in to provide a new one and deliver it to a meeting point in Bairnsdale.
Mr Day said the message of the ride is simple.
“It’s about awareness and getting people to actually talk, rather then holding everything in,” he said.
“Holding it in is just the worst thing you can do. It’s okay to speak up and say that it’s not all right.”
Follow Mick’s Journey: Ride to Break the Silence
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