You ’ d be forgiven for thinking you ’ ve just ridden into a Martin Handford illustration where some fellow named Wally is obscured by the masses . Yet , an olive-green Honda CT125 , Postie bike , gives the striped shirt wearing rider away , he ’ s there , plain to see .
On Australia ’ s national highway , somewhere between the Victorian towns of Colac and Winchelsea , the conspicuous rider appeared , yet unlike his fictional namesake , this Wally stood out , and for an especially important reason . We rode on with Michael to Geelong and in a roadside café , enjoyed a coffee and a chat about his ride and unique attire .
Michael Davey , a former aircraft maintenance engineer with the Royal Australian Navy , is on a mission , a mission that has seen him so far ride a full lap of the Australian mainland , all on a tiny utilitarian motorcycle , covering close to 20,000 kilometres over eight weeks . The ride is an attempt to raise awareness of the mental health issues faced by military personnel as well as funds for Soldier On , a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to enabling serving and ex-serving veterans and their families to thrive .
“ Defence personnel hide their illnesses like Wally hides amongst the population ,” explained Michael . “ It ’ s there to see yet not obvious , so doesn ’ t come to the fore until it ’ s often too late .”
Michael is talking about mental health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ), often brought on by experiences witnessed in arenas such as conflict .
Having experienced his own battles with mental illness and PTSD Michael felt compelled to lend his hand in discovering a solution , a task he accepts is not easy , yet is willing to sacrifice his own comfort to help those that are suffering far more .
“ I was a ward of the state at the age of seven ,” admitted Michael , who went through personal trauma as a child . “ My mother was a violent schizophrenic ; she would often beat me .
“ I joined the navy at 15 , though still battled my own demons ,” he continued . “ Years later the Big Man upstairs stepped in and gave me the courage to seek help .”
A devout Christian , Michael believes asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of and is the first step in recovery from something such as mental illness .
“ There ’ s a cultural problem within the defence force ,” suggested Michael . “ I ’ m not sure it ’ s the problem of any individual , more an issue of the system .
“ Real boys don ’ t cry , it ’ s a real boys club , where it ’ s not alright to share how you are feeling ,” he continued . “ I understand that in some ways it needs to be that way , but we need to address how we deal with these issues from a medical point of view .”
A similar view brought about by Australia ’ s Royal Commission Into Defence And Veteran Suicide . The interim release ( August 2022 ) of the report indicated significant cultural concerns at all levels , including processes that made it hard for personnel to seek help and treatment .
The Royal Commission highlighted that Australia has lost more military personnel to suicide than we have lost through operations over the past 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq . A statistic reinforced in Michael as he made his way around the country and by virtue of a chance visit to the Royal Commission hearings when his original bike ’ s engine ‘ blew up ’ on the way to the Queensland city of Cairns .
“ It was an opportunity to witness the hearings and meet with influential people ,” despite costing him $ 12,000
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