A former Albury man who lost two friends to suicide during high school is hoping the "shock" of riding 3200 kilometres across the Nullarbor will "get conversations started on mental health".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kasper Norden, who was in year 10 at Albury High School when 15-year-old Mary Baker took her own life, and a group of 11 fellow medical students will set off on Wednesday, November 27 from Geelong to Freemantle to raise money and awareness for the Black Dog Institute.
The sudden death of Mary and then another friend 12 months later hit Mr Norden and his friends "pretty hard" and the now 24-year-old believes it was that hardship which pushed him to pursue a career in medicine.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"It was such a massive shock when Mary died to our school and my friendship group," he said.
"The following year another one of my friends took her own life. We knew she had mental health issues but no one really understood or expected that.
"That's my main reason for doing this ride, to pay homage to my two friends who passed away and probably my main reason for getting into medicine.
"In the smaller rural communities like Albury they are understaffed and unaware of the issues around mental health. There's so much stigma surrounding it, people think they have to soldier on and not speak openly about it."
The Crossin The Bor team have already raised more than $30,000 and aim to arrive in Freemantle on December 12.
To support the ride visit the Crossin The Bor Facebook page