Seymour farmer Matt Aldridge is hoping to raise $70,000 for next year’s trek, with funds going towards the cost of the trip and to raise more awareness of the impact that PTSD and depression is having on farmers and veterans across the country.
He hopes to be able to take 12 veterans and farmers on a 10-day trek in April, with the last day coinciding on Anzac Day.
Matt is the founder of The Coo-Wee Ride, a charity which has raised thousands of dollars for veterans and struggling farmers by riding a bicycle for hundreds of kilometres across Australia.
This year, he raised $10,000 for the Hume Veterans Information Centre in Wodonga and $10,000 for the Sisters of the North, a not-for-profit group assisting farmers in north-west Queensland who were hit hard by drought and floods in January.
Matt is looking forward to leaving his bike in his garage and going on an arduous, but inspiring, walk through the Papua New Guinean jungle with veterans and farmers to talk about their mental health issues.
“While we have had a lot of success in getting the word out about PTSD and depression through our bike rides, this trek will just be an unbelievable opportunity,” Matt said.
“It will be very powerful to follow in the footsteps of our Australian soldiers. It will be a poignant place to hopefully allow these guys to open up and talk about their ongoing battle with mental health.”
Matt said he was inspired to start The Coo-Wee Ride after another farmer and friend took his own life.
“Riding a bike for thousands of kilometres is tough, but it’s nothing like what people battling mental health issues go through,” he said.
“After starting the ride I learnt about the suicide rate of Australian veterans and I was shocked. Australians are proud of our Anzac culture but there are so many battles under the surface we don’t see.
“The Kokoda walk is a great partnership between the Hume Veterans and The Coo-Wee Ride to raise awareness and give this group an experience they might not ever have.”
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 373 serving, ex-serving and reserve Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel committed suicide between 2001 and 2016.
Studies by the Australian Institute for Suicide Research found agricultural workers – a group which includes farmers, farm managers, farm hands, and shearers - were more than twice as likely to die by suicide than members of the general employed population.
Jamie Wolf, a veteran from Wodonga who served in the Australian Army for five years, is looking forward to next year’s trek and hopes enough funds can be raised to make it happen.
Diagnosed with PTSD since leaving the ADF after having served in Timor-Leste, Jamie wants to use this trip to highlight the seriousness of the disease and other mental health conditions.
“Not many of my colleagues actually know I have PTSD, so I really hope this trip gets them to talk more openly about how they’re feeling too,” Jamie said.
“When I was serving, we were told to really just suck it up and get on with it.
“Our farmers are also struggling now. To hear some of their stories - like some farmers not being able to afford to euthanase their cattle because of the extreme drought - it’s heartbreaking.
“It can definitely help to talk about things rather than to bottle it up.“Danny Frawley described it perfectly, ‘Manning up in the past was to suffer in silence. Manning up now is to put your hand up’.”
To donate, visit cooweeride.org.au
