Dusty Langby is walking 540km from Warren to Canberra to help put rural healthcare shortages in the spotlight.

Most 12-year-olds spend their school holidays trying to avoid long walks. But Dusty Langby – son of NSWNMA member Sarah – is planning a hike that stretches all the way from the Orana Region of Central Western NSW to Parliament House.

The young schoolboy from the rural town of Warren is preparing to walk 540km to Canberra in an effort to raise money for children’s charity Little Wings and draw attention to the challenges faced by families in regional Australia trying to access specialist healthcare.

His goal, he says, is simple. He wants to “fall down at the Prime Minister’s door”.

Dusty’s determination is rooted in his own family’s experience; when he was just three years old, his father was seriously injured in a car accident and faced a long recovery, relying heavily on doctors, nurses and the support of the local community. With Mum Sarah returning to work at the local hospital, Dusty learned to help around the house, look after his younger brother Angus and pitch in on the family property outside Warren.

Now in Year 6 at Warren Central School, Dusty has seen first-hand how difficult it can be for country families to access specialist care that city families often take for granted. He hopes the journey will help shine a light on the shortage of paediatric services in the bush and the enormous distances many country families travel to get treatment for their children.

Little Wings provides free flights and ground transport for seriously ill children from regional and remote communities needing specialist medical care in major centres; they receive only limited government funding and rely heavily on donations and community support.

For Dusty, the cause is deeply personal. He and his younger brother Angus travelled to Sydney with the help of Little Wings to attend appointments at Royal Far West, where Angus was diagnosed with autism and ADHD, and both boys were diagnosed with a specific learning disorder. Dusty says getting answers changed everything for his family and allowed his brother to receive the support he needed to thrive at school.

“Because I’ve seen what happens when you get help, and I’ve seen what happens when you have to wait,” Dusty says. “I don’t want country kids to feel forgotten.”

Back home, Dusty has already become something of a local celebrity as support builds behind the mission. To help prepare for the challenge, schools and communities along the route are being invited to take part in a “Dollar for Dusty” fundraiser by walking laps of their own school ovals and donating a gold coin to Little Wings. The idea is simple: if Dusty can walk 540km for country kids, surely the rest of us can manage one more lap around the oval.

The route from Warren to Canberra is roughly the same distance as driving from Sydney to Melbourne and back to Goulburn for good measure. And by the time he reaches the nation’s capital, Dusty is hoping politicians won’t just notice the sore feet. He wants them to pay attention to the families who make journeys just as long every week simply to see a specialist or to attend an appointment their city counterparts can reach in half an hour.

Spanning from August 30 to September 14, the walk will take Dusty through towns and communities that understand those realities all too well. Supporters are expected to join him for sections of the journey as his message gathers momentum on the road to Canberra.

For a 12-year-old, it’s an awfully long way to walk for an audience with the PM. But then again, for plenty of regional families, travelling that far for healthcare is about as normal as it gets.

Dusty’s mission, he says, is for his brother, for the children in his school and for families “who are trying their best”.

“I might only be 12,” he says, “but I know that where you live shouldn’t decide if you get the help you need.”

The NSWNMA Council has made a donation of $10,000 in support of Dusty – and we wish him all the best for the long journey ahead!

Find out more information here: https://www.givenow.com.au/dollar-for-dusty