Geoff Chandler gets up at 3.30am every morning to train for the biggest challenge of his life.
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And he'll need to draw on the same steely reserve of determination and grit that have got him through life so far when he completes his Big Walk next month - a 50km walk every day for the eight days of Amputee Awareness Week to put the Limbs 4 Life charity in the spotlight.
Mr Chandler was 23 when his right leg was severely damaged in a motorbike accident. The damage was so bad that doctors said he would never walk unaided again, and he battled with chronic leg pain for the next 26 years.
But in 2010 he slipped and fell while crossing the road and shattered his damaged leg. After six months in plaster and with the bone his leg not healing, he decided to have the leg amputated below the knee.
A decade on, and to help repay the Limbs 4 Life charity that has supported him to adjust to a new life, he decided to walk 400km in one week in eight locations across Victoria to raise funds and awareness.
"When I was down and out when I first lost my leg, they were right there straight away," he said.
His fifth walk, on October 8, will be around Lake Wendouree.
"Sometimes I don't think things through," he laughed. "Since I had my leg amputated I've been to Kokoda twice, and after the first time I said I'd never do it again as it was the hardest thing in my life, but five years to the day I did it again."
Mr Chandler, 58, is allocating himself 10 hours each day to cover the 50km distance
I'm not going to go out there and walk 50km, at the end of the day it's mind over matter and it's all in the head - if you want to do it you'll do it.
- Geoff Chandler
"I'm up at 3.30 every morning going to the gym to do 8-10km on the treadmill then (weather permitting), because I'm only two minutes down the road from Corio Bay I go for walk along there. In the afternoon I go for another walk so I'm averaging about 25km-30km a day," he said.
"I'm not going to go out there and walk 50km, at the end of the day it's mind over matter and it's all in the head - if you want to do it you'll do it.
"I'm as fit as I can get. I don't think I can get any fitter."
Mr Chandler said he would stop every few hours to patch up and clean his stump and ice it to enable him to keep going.
Each year there are 9000 new amputees in Australia, and Mr Chalmers said his Big Walk was to create opportunities for the disabled, amputees, families and community members to come together and support people living with limb loss.
In Australia the main causes of amputation include diabetes, vascular disease, cancer, traumatic accidents, infection and congenital deficiencies.
National Amputee Awareness Week runs from October 4 to 11.
Click here for more information or to support the Big Walk.
