By Tyler Wright
Boronia local Prabodh Malhotra has made the return home after walking from the Melbourne Cricket Ground to the Sydney Cricket Ground to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Mr Malhotra embarked on the 10-week long walk from the centre of Melbourne sport on 29 October last year; travelling through towns including Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca, Deniliquin, Wagga Wagga and Goulburn in support of the McGrath Foundation.
The McGrath Foundation was formed in 2005 by cricketer Glenn McGrath and his wife Jane McGrath, in order to help families through the disease.
Jane passed away in 2008.
Mr Malhotra said the journey saw him walk 1,325 kilometres; raising almost $95,000 so far for the charity.
“We walked around 35, 38 kilometres for the first few days, the first week was 259 kilometres,“ the 72-year-old retiree said.
“We cut back as the body gets tired as [you go] into the walk a bit more.“
One special incident, Mr Malhotra said, occurred after a young boy got out of a vehicle to walk alongside him.
“I normally don’t allow anyone to walk with me because the insurance will not cover the public library insurance, so people could walk with me in the built-up area because you’re walking on the footpath and there could be anyone walking with you or beside you,“ he said.
“This four-wheel drive pulled over early morning…and this young child got out, he was about nine or 10, and he said ’excuse me, sir, can I walk with you just 100 metres to the farm?’
“I looked around there was no traffic and it’s early morning about 5.30, six o’clock; he walked with me 100 metres, he was very happy and at the farm entrance they had set up a big welcome with all the pink balloons and five or six kiddies all dressed up in pink, the mother dressed up in pink.
“It was such a warm welcome and it was amazing.“
Mr Malhotra said he needed permits from Victoria Police, the Department of Transport and Planning as well as their NSW counterparts, alongside permission from all the council areas along the walk.
“Most of the councils write back to you saying ’you’re most welcome to come through’ or ’we are honoured to have you come through’ and so on.
“There was one council, this woman wrote ’yes, you’re most welcome…by the way, I had breast cancer about five, six years ago; If it wasn’t for the McGrath Foundation, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today.’“
“When we walked through that council, we met the mayor, deputy mayors and the CEOs or general managers and executive assistants; she shared her story face to face and she was in tears. and so was the mayor.“
Mr Malhotra said the woman woke up from surgery with a McGrath Breast Care Nurse holding her hand.
“That made her realise ’yes, there’s somebody,’ she’s not alone; there’s somebody to help her through this,“ he said.
“There was many such instances where a person shared her own story or his own story or the family member or friend they knew…it’s really heartwarming for you to find out that what you’re doing is a small contribution in a bigger scheme of things that people really appreciate.”
Mr Malhotra said he was inspired by The Big Three Trek; a group who walks from Newcastle to the SCG to honour breast care nurses, people who have battled breast cancer and families who have also been impacted by the disease.
“I was inspired by them; that’s why I took up [the walk] last year and this year,“ Mr Malhotra said.
Despite blistering on his feet, Mr Malhotra arrived at his destination after 67 days.
On Wednesday 3 January, he stepped into the SCG on the opening day of the Pink Test between Australia and Pakistan.
“It was unbelievable that I was able to do [the walk] a second time and it was longer this time, about 250 kilometres longer than last year,“ he said.
“I’m a year older, but I was able to complete it.
“It was an unbelievable feeling; it’s beyond words basically.“
Two days later, on Jane McGrath Day on Friday 5 January, Mr Malhotra said he was able to meet the group that had originally motivated him to achieve the feat.
“It was incredible to meet with them,“ he said.
“We walked onto the SCG and formed a shape of M, the symbol from the McGrath Foundation.
“At 12 ’clock we went for the high tea, which was attended by Glenn McGrath, Tracy Bevan [director], but also the Prime Minister, the opposition leader Peter Dutton, and many, many celebrities on the television from Olympic champions, from NRL, AFL players and many athletes.“
Mr Malhotra said it was “amazing“ to be part of the event.
“[We listened] to the story of this young woman; she’s only 38, Jane, and she shared her story when she was diagnosed with breast cancer just last year,“ he said.
“McGrath Foundation was very, very helpful…I think most of the people had tears in their eyes after listening to that story.“
Mr Malhotra said the McGrath Foundation has been able to help 127,000 breast cancer patients so far.
“They have 204 nurses; the idea is to push that number to 250 so that no one goes without the help they need and they deserve,“ he said.
“The other thing a lot of people don’t realise, the McGrath Foundation helps all these people, absolutely free of cost… it’s all funded by the donations [and] people contribute.“
Having immigrated from Austria to Australia in 1980 in his 20s, Mr Malhotra said he was able to complete his PhD; something he did not think would be possible in any other country.
“Now I’m retired and I think it’s a high time that I gave something back to the community, because I’m here now and I don’t know how long I have left in my life because ultimately we’re all going to go,“ he said.
“Before I go, I want to leave this place a better world than I came into; and for that reason, I was looking for ideas and opportunities when I saw this young, group of young men and women from Newcastle, first time three years ago, and they were interviewed and this guy said they walk 120 kilometres from Newcastle to the SCG and the process they did is $120,000, and I thought ’well, if they can walk from the SCG from Newcastle to SCG, maybe I can do a little better from the MCG, that’s a little bit better’.
“I thought about it for maybe a few weeks and then I rang the McGrath Foundation and I signed up for it and I started preparing because I knew you can’t walk 1,000 kilometres or more just without any prep work.“
He has also been walking around the area for more than 30 years, including The Thousand Steps in Tremont.
“That was basically a physical exercise to keep myself fit and keep shedding weight or maintaining weight and stay skinny,“ Mr Malhotra said.
“The focus was on my health, but since I signed up with the McGrath Foundation, the focus has shifted from my health to community health, and I still get all the benefits.
“I told the media in Sydney as well ’from this walk, if one single Australian has improved life, if one single Australian gets a better life, it’s worth it.’
To donate to the McGrath Foundation, you can visit fundraise.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/fundraisers/prabodhmalhotra/walk-from-mcg-to-scg
