Walking Med Students Arrive Early

Walking Med Students Arrive Early

A group of medical students who walked from Townsville to Mackay to raise money for people with multiple sclerosis shocked themselves by arriving two days ahead of schedule.

Jennifer Hogan, Pete Christensen, Brenton Wilson and Nicole Casale set off on June 7 and walked a staggering 400 kilometres. They were due to arrive at Mackay Base Hospital today, but maintained an impressive pace and set foot in town on Sunday.

"We shocked ourselves by arriving three days early," Jennifer said. "We were great at motivating each other and working together to get through the tough patches, so the pace was set early."

Following the Bruce Highway, the walkers rested in towns like Giru, Home Hill, Bowen and Proserpine. They were met each night by a support crew that transported tents and items too heavy to carry.

The four friends, all aged in their early 20s and undertaking medicine and physiotherapy degrees at James Cook University, have now returned home to rest.

"There's a bit of muscle soreness and we're all exhausted, so I think we'll spend the next few days taking it easy," Jennifer said.

The walkers set a fundraising goal of $3000 to benefit the MS Society of Queensland, which they met thanks to the support of friends, family and the North Queensland community.

"Because of our studies, we know the impact MS has on thousands of peoples' lives and I watched my grandmother battle the disease for 13 years before she died in 2005," Jennifer said.

MS Queensland chief executive officer Trevor Farrell said the money raised would help fund local support services, awareness projects and research to help find a cure for MS.

"Walking such a distance is no small endeavour so we send our congratulations to the students and thank them for making a real difference to the lives of Queenslanders with MS," Mr Farrell said.

More than 18,000 Australians have MS and there is no known cause or cure. For more information, visit www.msqld.org.

To make a donation to the students, visit www.everydayhero.com.au/march_for_ms.

For more information, images or interviews please contact
Shannon Molloy, MS Queensland media
and communications manager, on
07 3840 0825 or
[email protected]

SOURCE: MS Society of Queensland