Truck drivers have been described as “knights of the roads” by a man who is walking around Australia to raise funds for research into kid’s cancer.
Simon Harvey has been known as “Captain Australia” since he started his walks and was glowing in his praise of drivers.
“The support from the truckie community has been nothing short of wonderful – they are knights of the road if you ask me,” he told Spy.
Simon left his home at age 15 to escape a domestic situation and walked from Brisbane to Sydney to live with his grandma.
“Since then I have had three sons of my own – my youngest child is three and was diagnosed with stage four head and neck cancer and given six months to live. Had a long shot treatment option, we took it, beat the cancer but was broken,” Simon said.
“To come back I dressed as superhero Captain Australia and walked Brisbane to Melbourne in Covid time raising $165,000 for the Kids Cancer Project – Captain Australia’s Big Walk.
“So much good came from the walk that I felt I had to do more, so I set out on ‘Captain Australia’s Big Lap and did Brisbane to Melbourne again but kept going – Adelaide, Nullarbor, Perth, Broome, Darwin, Mount Isa, Townsville and now headed back to Brisbane,” he said.
Simon has met thousands of people on his walks and overall truck drivers had been wonderful.
“It mostly started around the Nullarbor where old Slim met his end – Gary, Wombat, so many have stopped to offer kind words and material support, food and drinks. They’ll pull up on a hot afternoon with an icy cold coke then drive away like Batman,” he said.
Most recently Simon said a bunch with the Ostojic Group out of Mt Isa had regularly pulled up with meals and kindness.
“A gorgeous older couple Barry and Carol who do the run from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa then this fantastic bloke Lenny who does Mount Isa to Charters Towers,” he said.
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