When Damian King heard about the number of people in rural Cambodia who were needlessly blind, he decided to lace up his running shoes for an epic 1,000km fundraising run.
If the 1,000km isn’t daunting enough, Mr. King plans to complete the run – from Brisbane to Sydney – in just 18 days. It is a goal that requires him to run a minimum of a full marathon – and often more – every day.
Mr. King hopes to raise AUD$100,000 for the non-profit organisation Cambodia Vision, which regularly sends teams of eye health professionals to Cambodia’s poorest regions, to carry out cataract surgery.
He says he first heard about the work of Cambodia Vision from childhood friend, Will Robertson of Designs for Vision.
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible!
“Will came back from (a mission trip with) Cambodia Vision. We sat down and had a cold beer and went through his experiences. It felt like I went on the journey with him.
“There’s not much I can do. I have no education in eye health, but finance is an issue. All the Cambodia Vision teams are volunteers and pay their own way. I wanted to put Cambodia Vision on the map and assist them to raise funds,” Mr. King said.
“The elation and sadness he experienced was impossible to ignore. At this point ‘Jog out of Fog’ was conceived.
“I have never been to Cambodia. It’s not about having been there. It’s an international responsibility. I’m driven by what I know is real,” he said.
Mr. King said he’d always been competitive and has experienced physical adversity – he spent 18 months in calipers as a preschool age child.
He says his mantra has been: “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible!”
Mr. King will start his epic journey in the first week of August.
Donations can be made via Mr. King’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jog-out-of-Fog/528503070534663 or via his Personal Challenge page: http://personalchallenge.gofundraise.com.au/page/jogoutoffog
