Why I'm running

Why I’m running 87km

There are moments in your life that you remember.

And then there are moments that happened before you were old enough to remember, but somehow become part of who you are anyway.

In 1988, I was almost two years old when my family was involved in a horrific car accident in the outback, on our way home from Queensland to Horsham, Victoria.

My older sister was almost six. My baby sister was just three months old, still in her capsule.

And my dad died at the scene.

My mum suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to be stabilised at the nearest hospital before being flown to Sydney.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service flew my mum, my sisters and me.

I don't remember that day.

I don't remember the accident, but I've spent my whole life knowing that on that road, everything changed.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand the enormity of what my mum faced.

She had lost her husband, suffered a devastating brain injury, and had three tiny daughters who needed her.

And somehow, she kept going.

My sisters and I grew up carrying a story we were too young to understand when it happened.

My dad became someone I would know mostly through stories, photographs and the space he left behind.

And Mum became the person who survived something unimaginable and kept our family moving forward.

That is the history I carry with me.

And that's why this run means so much.

I'm running 87km for Oceans to Outback to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the same organisation that was there for my family nearly 40 years ago.

I can't change what happened on that road.

But I can honour what came after it.

I'll run for the little girl I was.

For my sisters.

For my mum.

For my dad.

And for the RFDS, because somewhere, another family may one day need the same lifeline we did.

87km. One step at a time. A lifetime of reasons to keep moving. ❤️

If you'd like to support my challenge, I'd be incredibly grateful for a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

There's no pressure to donate — sharing, following along or cheering me on means more than you know.

This isn't just a run for me. It's a very personal way of giving something back. ❤️