Kidney Kar Rally participants stopped at Emerald on, Friday, August 13

A field of 40 rally cars will tackle a gruelling 5040km course, making their way through Townsville, Emerald, Chinchilla, the Gold Coast, into NSW through Tenterfield, Waglett, Bourke, Coonabarabran to finish at Dubbo, all in aid of raising funds and awareness for kidney disease.

Millicent Fleming

4 min read

August 16, 2022 - 1:46PM

SA man’s lifesaving Christmas gift for his best mate (7NEWS)

Community News

Don't miss out on the headlines from Community News. Followed categories will be added to My News.

For Wally (Graeme) Wallace, participating in the Kidney Kar Rally is akin to Christmas - with everyone coming together and catching up for a week.

Mr Wallace is excited to be back participating in the 2022 rally after the event took a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19.

He joined a field of 40 rally cars in Emerald on Friday, August 12, as they stopped for a visit as part of the 11-day marathon rally.

Beginning in the north at Cairns and ending in the south in Dubbo, more than 100 of participants and the support team are taking a whirlwind tour of Queensland to raise awareness and money for Kidney Health Australia’s Kids and Youth Programs that supports young people and children with the emotional, psychological and physical impacts of kidney disease.

In Australia, 1.7 million people know they have a kidney disease; more than 11,000 are being treated with dialysis and 14,000 are one on the waiting list to have a kidney transplant.

The waiting list to receive a viable kidney is between three and seven years; not everyone on the list will get a new kidney before they die; the life expectancy of someone diagnosed with kidney disease is just five to ten years with dialysis, and 63 Australia’s will die each day from kidney problems.

Kidney disease is known to be a silent killer because the organ can lose 90% of its ability to function before the body will physically show signs of deterioration as a result.

In order to make sure your kidneys are firing on all cylinders it’s important to see you GP regularly about blood tests, Kidney function tests, glucose tests, heart rate, and blood pressures checks for early indicators of poor kidney health.

The first car of participants to arrive at CQUniversity Emerald was Wally and Sue Wallace, accompanied by Kerry Warren.

Mr Wallace said the people who participated in the event became a family because the majority of people involved in the event in some way or another kept coming back year after year.

“We call them (the participants) relatives for a reason,” Mr Wallace said.

“This is just part of our family, coming on a rally.

“It’s a great cause, we raise money for the kids.

“It’s our reward (the rally) for working hard all year, raising the money and seeing the kids’ smiles.

“Our little reward is the rally and seeing all the relatives.

“It’s like going to a Christmas dinner, just catching up with everyone for a week is absolutely fantastic.

“It gets in your blood and you just keep going.”

Mr Wallace reflected on the journey of a young girl named Amy, who was diagnosed with kidney disease as a child, and her involvement with the rally.

Every Kidney Kar Rally course Wally, Wally Wallace, and team have completed.

“Amy doesn’t come on our rallies anymore, but Amy and her family used to come on the rallies since I started in 2009,” Mr Wallace said.

“Amy was on dialysis, they used to bring her portable dialysis with her and she’d go on a rally every night.

“She’d be on the back seat. And over her lifetime she’s had a failed transplant, she’s actually had to have hip replacements.

“She, I think, technically had died three times.

“Amy’s now 24, we still keep in contact, and we’re still great friends. We still keep in contact with her mum and dad.

“If they come through Newcastle, they come and stay at our place.”

Kidney Health Australia CEO, Chris Forbes was ecstatic for the return of the rally to help increase knowledge and support for the work done to help children and youths with kidney disease.

“We are thrilled to see the resumption of the Kidney Kar Rally,” Mr Forbes said.

“It is such a special event, and we can’t wait to get out on the road and travel through Queensland and northern New South Wales, connecting with local towns and wider communities to raise funds for kids and young people with kidney disease.

“Kids with kidney disease face enormous challenges in dealing with the physical impact of treatment, as well as the emotional toll of coping with a lifelong chronic disease.

“Childhood and adolescence are challenging enough without the burden of kidney disease.

“Tragically, it’s why one third of young people lose their kidney transplant within three years of leaving paediatric renal care – and why we’re determined to do more to support them through these important developmental years.”

Mrs Wallace pointed out that some of the rally stops offered free health checks along the way.

“Kidney Health Australia has their Big Red Bus and they go around and they do free health checks in parks and things like that,” Mrs Wallace said.

“Like when we were in Cairns, we had the Big Red Bus free health checks and things like that.

“Kidney Health put on a little soloist and face painting for the kids to draw people in, to get their health checks, and that’s part of what the rally does is get Kidney Health Australia out there.”

The rally participants left Emerald on Saturday, August 13, at 6.30am.