My Story

My name is James John. I’m a 26 year old South Australian native, being lucky enough to grow up just up river of a town called Paringa on the River Murray. 

My father Paul passed away on 17 May 2015 at the age of 54. He suffered from Duodenal Cancer, a rare small intestinal cancer.

Dad was an incredible guy. One of the things he often said, and which has stuck with me, is that he was lucky to watch his kids grow up (I have two brothers) and complete school, attend university, and chase their careers. He was confident that we would be OK and that was very important to him. In his view, and certainly mine, cancer in children can be a darker tragedy. Kids who may face an uphill battle to grow up and have families of their own, and parents who experience the pain of watching their child suffer.  

When my father passed, a friend of his, Steven, wrote an amazing letter to my family. In this letter, Steven retold many stories of growing up with my Dad. In one of these stories, Steven shared how he and Dad had planned to ride around Australia on their motorbikes when they were younger, and how he planned to lobby Dad to do this when he got better.

Dad never got better, but reading this letter planted the seed for this idea and I will be doing this ride in Dad’s memory. I have always believed that if you have the capacity and means to help others, you should.

I hope that riding around Australia, stopping in at many cities, towns, pubs, and wherever else, can help raise awareness and encourage those in different communities to give back and support those in need. What I really hope to do is encourage dialogue between people about the needs of others all across Australia, particularly ill children, and give people another avenue to donate and support others.

The Foundation

The Ride

The long way round - a 19,000 kilometre road trip

I am riding my motorbike 19,000kms around mainland Australia (including Tassie) to raise funds, awareness and support for the battle against child cancer, dropping in at hospitals and care centres in every capital city of our beautiful country. I leave from my hometown of Paringa in country South Australia and set off on a clockwise loop around Oz.

I am doing this ride in memory of my late father, Paul, who passed away in 2015 after his own battle with cancer. In Dad's view, and certainly mine, cancer in children can be a darker tragedy. Kids who may face an uphill battle to grow up and have families of their own, and parents who experience the pain of watching their child suffer.

We can support these children and their families. Please join me in my efforts to raise $100,000 for the battle against child cancer.

In our journey together to reach the $100,000 goal, your dollar doubles as I match your online donation to the Foundation dollar for dollar by making a personal donation of $50,000 distributed directly to 10 hospitals and care centres along the ride.

100% of your donation on my fundraising page with the Foundation goes towards leading research targeting gentler treatments for children battling cancer. My matching amount of $50,000 presented by cheque to the hospitals and care centres along the ride will go toward toys, entertainment, and much needed equipment in child cancer wards around the country. A big learning curve for me has been discovering that hospitals receive many "unwanted" gifts. I will collaborate with hospitals all around the country to target critical needs and ensure our pledge makes a big difference.  Read more about the allocation of donations in the full 'My Story'  and featured blog post.

Together, I hope we can smash the $100,000 barrier and help support kids throughout Australia in their battle against cancer.

Donation Tracker

Final amount!
Donated amount: $57,000
Total amount (with my personal matching  $50,000 donation): $107,000

Gallery

Contact Me

I welcome all and any support on this ride. If you want to drop me a line, be it to collaborate on something, catch up for a beer as I make my way round Oz, or just give me something to read when I'm camped out on the road, please feel free to contact me using the below (your email address is only used so I can reply to you/know who the message is from, it will not be used for spam or anything else).