John Dean left his Adelaide home on April 5 bound for a destination two states and 2000 kilometres away.
He is on a mission to raise awareness of beyondblue, but what makes his journey even more remarkable is that he is doing it on foot.
John was inspired to make the trek after enduring a rough patch in 2016 that left him eager to help others in the same situation. Armed with just his trailers and the bare necessities he walked out of Adelaide with his sights set on Maroochydore, Queensland.
He refused to be accompanied by a support crew as he carts the 80 kilogram trailers behind him, a move he said signifies feelings associated with mental illnesses.
“I wanted to put myself in a situation where I’m as alone as I could be,” he said. “How far would you go to carry a friend in need who is down and out?”
As it turns out John has been surrounded by the support of complete strangers the entire walk which was made increasingly evident as he arrived in Dubbo on Tuesday.
“Coming into Dubbo the amount of legends I have met is unreal,” he said. “I’ve had more responses coming into Dubbo than I have anywhere else.”
Beautiful people man, you’ve got an amazing town here and I want everyone to know in Dubbo I really appreciate you.
- John Dean
One after another people offered John support as he approached Dubbo, the first being Brett Taylor who was assisted by council administrator Michael Kneipp in relieving John of his trailers. With 32 kilometres remaining John jogged the rest of the way, motivated by the donation of a room at the Quality Inn.
More people including “the legend Adam” who gave John a head torch, a man named Possom and several others offered their assistance along the way.
“Beautiful people man, you’ve got an amazing town here and I want everyone to know in Dubbo I really appreciate you.
“This is a place where legends are obviously bred, so thank you.”
John left Dubbo on Thursday headed north to Gilgandra. He aims to arrive in Maroochydore on June 10.
Donations can be here.
