Over the next four days, Shell Cove man Mick Rigney will walk 216 kilometres up and down a steep hill while wearing a 35-kilogram vest, all in the name of his son, Jack.
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Ten-year-old Jack has Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), a progressively worsening condition caused by an insufficient amount of a certain protein, which means the muscle breaks down and cannot repair itself properly.
BMD is one of a number of conditions that fall under the term muscular dystrophy and commonly cause profound disability; for some of these conditions, the life expectancy can be as short as infancy.
BMD and Duchenne muscular dystrophy - the most common form of childhood muscular dystrophy - affect boys far more than girls.
There is no cure for muscular dystrophy.
Through his marathon effort this week - called A Father's Walk - Mr Rigney hopes to raise $20,000 for Muscular Dystrophy NSW, an organisation that supports people with muscular dystrophy and funds research into these conditions.
He also wants to raise awareness of muscular dystrophy, himself having not known about it until Jack was diagnosed at the age of two.
"If muscular dystrophy was COVID, we'd have a cure by now, but it's not and unfortunately, people don't know about it," Mr Rigney said.
Mr Rigney set off about 5am on Thursday.
Over the course of four days, comprising 12 to 16-hour days, he will walk up and down the hill at the Farm in Killalea Regional Park 216 times, a distance of 216 kilometres.
The weighted vest represents Jack's body weight.
The concept of this challenge came about after a visit to the Farm with Jack on a busy summer's day, when they couldn't get a park close to the beach.
"So I had to put Jack on my shoulders and walk up the hill, and then I thought 'Why not do it to the same elevation as Mount Everest and raise money for Muscular Dystrophy NSW?'" Mr Rigney said.
A university lecturer in exercise science, Mr Rigney has been training for this task.
"It's quite challenging. Coming back down is actually a lot harder than you realise, it's quite hard on the knees," he said.
Speaking the day before he set out, Mr Rigney said he was feeling a bit nervous, but confident.
"I've said I'm going to do it, so I've just got to do it now," he said.
It is not the first endurance event Mr Rigney, a university lecturer in exercise science, has put himself through in the name of this cause.
"Last time I rowed on a Concept2 rower for 24 hours straight, that was in 2019... it was an interesting challenge, but I got through it," he said.
Jack was "doing OK" at the moment, Mr Rigney said, and had a good team of healthcare workers around him.
"He's a little trooper, he sees every allied health professional under the sun [and] just takes it in his stride," Mr Rigney said.
"I think he takes it better than I do, really."
More information on Mr Rigney's fundraising efforts is available here.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
