Distance no obstacle in long walk for love

Capping the journey: Sgt Scott Bradshaw with Leanne, his fiancee, after he raised $53,000 during his 1000km walk. Photo by Phil Barling

By Michael Brooke

A REJUVENATING cold beer and a warm kiss from his cancer-stricken fiancée greeted a weary Sgt Scott Bradshaw when he completed his courageous 1000km charity walk from Brisbane to Sydney recently.

“Only the vision of my fiancee and a cold beer waiting for me at the finish kept me going,” said Sgt Bradshaw as he drank a glass of ale.

He had never been to Sydney, let alone walked 1000kms in 20 days, but overcoming this “double whammy” was the only way he could raise $53,000 to pay for his fiancee’s life-saving breast cancer treatment.

Leanne Myles, a mother of two, has already begun chemotherapy but her recovery hinges upon getting the expensive drug Herceptin to treat her aggressive breast cancer (HER2 Positive Carcinoma). The drug is not currently covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Sgt Bradshaw said the pain he endured walking 1000km on swollen feet was a small price to pay.

Sgt Bradshaw averaged 50km a day in his journey that began in Brisbane on October 8 and finished 20 days later at The Rocks in Sydney on October 28.

A welcome stranger in the form of Olympic silver medallist Raylene Boyle, who is on the Breast Cancer Fund board, joined Sgt Bradshaw on the last leg of his walk to The Rocks, where Leanne and the cold beer were waiting.

“I love you darling, you are such an amazing man for doing this to save my life,” Leanne said as she embraced her saviour.

Leanne noted with a touch of irony that some family and friends thought Sgt Bradshaw was joking when he said he would walk from Brisbane to Sydney to raise the money for the life-saving new drug.

Sgt Bradshaw said he was happy to have raised more than enough money for Leanne’s treatment, with what is left over going to a trust to help other women facing the same life-or-death situation.