VETERAN WALKS ACROSS AUSTRALIA

Image: right Royce Hardman, left Nathan Harris, Afghanistan 2009

Royce “Rolls” Hardman is a former Australian infantry soldier trying to raise awareness and money for military personnel suffering from PTSD. Rolls is walking around Australia unsupported. He started out in Perth, WA and is completing his last march anti-clockwise as he traverses the continent. Rolls' call to arms is simple “please help me help our veterans” and their families.

He is undertaking the walk with his beloved dog Trigger, a two year-old pedigree Blue American Staffy. Trigger has become something of a celebrity online and is charming Australians along the route.

The trek includes marching across the Nullaboor plain without a support crew and enduring soaring desert heat with nothing but his metal cart and trusted dog. It also means stopping over at functions to raise awareness for the cause, something Trigger seems to find less exciting than his master.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health problem that can occur after witnessing or directly experiencing a life threatening event, including military combat. Because the symptoms of PTSD and other trauma reactions change how a trauma survivor feels and acts, traumatic experiences that happen to one member of a family usually affect everyone else in the family network.

Trauma symptoms can make individuals hard to get along with or cause them to withdraw from the rest of the family. When trauma reactions are severe, and are allowed to progress without treatment, they can cause major problems in a family.

The walk will take between 18 months to 2 years. We met both Rolls and Trigger at a Soldier On function here in Canberra. We were honoured to donate a pair of military boots to Rolls, whose shoes keep wearing out, and help him with medals.

Help us support this great cause, make a donation to Rolls & Triggers fundraiser here