There has been no shortage of evidence that highlights the increased significant health issues, both physically and mentally, that Indigenous people face throughout their lives compared to our non-Indigenous population. During my last birthday celebrations I was reminded of this fact by a friend who kindly told me I had inheritably reached my mid life crisis at the age of 28. Although these comments were made in jest, the cold reality of the situation is that there is a 17 year life expectancy gap because Indigenous and non-Indigenous people as a direct consequence to these health issues.

Recently I found myself facing my own health issues while dealing with a personal problem. I was fortunate enough that my family and good friends where there to help me move forward. After realising the importance of good physical and mental health as a way of maintaining a positive lifestyle, I decided that it was important to spread this message. It was also imperative that this message educated people on the unacceptable health gap that still exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Over the last summer I got together with Daniel Edwards who is another proud young Indigenous man who was also keen to raise awareness of the health issues that our community face. Together we both decided that the best way we could promote our message was to compete in the 08/09 Brooks and Gatorade triathlon series. Very quickly Daniel and myself realised that we were going to require assistance if we were to compete in all 12 races.  After hearing and seeing the great work that Mibbinbah was already doing in raising awareness of Indigenous men’s health issues we decided to approach the CEO, Jack Bulman, with our idea and the rest is history as they say.

After completing both series Daniel and I found that we had not only started to gain exposure for our cause in the wider community but we realised that we had improved our own physical and mental wellbeing.  Without Mibbinbah’s extensive support throughout this whole project I can sincerely say that we may not have achieved our goal, so very special thanks to Jack Bulman, Rick Hayes, and the rest of the Mibbinbah organisation.

Hopefully the project can grow moving forward into the 09/10 Triathlon series. If you are interested in competing yourself or just want to support our project please do not hesitate to e-mail myself or Jack Bulman.