It’s not often someone plans to travel across the country to raise money for charity after being told they don’t have long to live, but Shepparton’s Eric Brown is doing just that.
Mr Brown has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and hasn’t got much time left.
However, instead of focusing on the negative, he has decided to make his last moments count.
On Saturday, March 12, Mr Brown will make his way to Queensland on his mobility scooter, with his handmade car attached, raising awareness and money for Angel Flight, a charity that co-ordinates non-emergency flights to assist country people to access specialist medical treatment.
“I’ve got stage four lung cancer and it’s been going on for two years now,” he said.
“My treatment’s nearly up. So that means nature is going to take its course shortly and I'll be bed-bound and running around with an oxygen bottle, so I haven't got long to go.
“I don't want to die in front of the TV basically.
“Very selfish of me, but I don't want to die in front of the bloody TV.
“So, I decided to do this trip and raise money for the kids at the same time.”
Travelling alongside Mr Brown will be his cat, who he calls Little Girl.
She showed up on his doorstep one day and it didn’t take long for her to steal his heart.
“My cat turned up the day I found out I had cancer,” Mr Brown said.
“It took three months before she let me pat her. Now she follows me to Coles ... so she’s coming with me, she’s my mate.
“You find that you’re dying of cancer and you got no-one to talk to except for four walls.
“Then a stray cat turns up and sits on your lap, so that changes your mind and takes you away from that dark spot.
“And now she’s the reason I’m doing all this.
“She brought me back to life, basically.”
Mr Brown has meticulously planned his trip, taking into account the capabilities of the scooter, his energy supply (and back-ups), his route, as well as the cat’s and his own needs such as food, water and sleeping arrangements.
He has fitted his mobility scooter car with solar panels, brake and indicator lights, a pull-out shelving system on the door for cooking, two back-up power systems, a cooler fridge, camping tarps and a fly screen for insect protection.
Mr Brown will travel more than 2500km in total, with three to five hours a day on the road covering up to 40km.
The journey will take him about 150 days and he’ll be working his way through small country towns, hoping to visit the places Angel Flight helps the most.
“It’s all these little towns that I want to go to, because that’s where Angel Flight really comes into their own, you know, out in the bush, in the small country towns,’’ Mr Brown said.
“And that’s where I want to go.
“I’m sick of hearing about charities and people raising money and the money goes somewhere else.
“This way it’s on their docket, it goes to their bank account and no-one else sees it.”
Throughout the journey, Mr Brown will keep his GoFundMe page updated with videos and updates from his journey alongside some ‘how-to’ tips for camping in the country.
“I’ll spend three to five hours in the day travelling and for the rest of the day, I’ll be waiting for the solar panels to charge,” he said.
“So in that time, I like to make videos as I’m a bit of a survivalist.
“So show people how to make fire out of nothing or how to set up snares, stuff like that.
“On that GoFundMe page, there will be updates so I'll just use their platform and put little videos on that.”
To donate to Angel Flight or follow and support Eric in his journey to Queensland, search Eric’s Fight for Angel Flight on the GoFundMe page.