Trent Chapman is our Shake it up Hero of the week for his truly inspiring 1,000km walk for his Nan. Trent walked from Brisbane to Sydney, covering a marathon distance every day!

Why Shake It Up Australia?

I have seen the growth of Shake It Up Australia since day one and I believe the foundation will most defiantly find a cure for Parkinson’s and I wanted to be a part of helping make that happen, why watch when you can join…

Why Trents Tanaka Trim?

The whole concept behind Trent’s Tanaka trim was to put myself into the shoes of my Nan whom suffers Parkinson’s. She had told me she shakes all the time, her body aches with great discomfort, she can’t sleep properly, people look at her and laugh, she had lost her independence and that she did not know if she could do it anymore. So, I tried to simulate all of those things and came with the idea of walking a distance I did not know if I could do or not, take something that would cause discomfort and make me shake the whole time, do the challenge every day without taking a rest to remove my independence, ensure what I carried had weight to cause pain upon my joints and do something that would disrupt the general public and have them laugh at me whilst I was suffering.  My aim was to show the silver lining at the end, much the way I believe SIUAF will find a cure, it’s just a matter of hanging in there and staying positive.

Greatest Challenge?

Days 3 – 28 The first few days were surreal and I could not bring myself to accept I was doing this, The morning of day 3 or the evening of day 2 was when reality set in and I knew I was up for one hell of a challenge, physically and mentally. As time went on I felt I was supporting and holding the flag for so many more than my Nan, every part of me wanted to shut down but with the support of those around me we achieved it as a team.

Greatest Reward?

The highlight for me was undoubtedly seeing my Nan at the finish line as I did not believe she could make it. Every day and every step had it’s own rewards, being able to talk with people and learn of their experiences with Parkinson’s and know somehow I was a part of their hope for that silver lining was ever so rewarding. Every bit from the preparation to the recovery had its own special reward.

What’s next?

Well the big wheel keeps on turning and though we wrote a small chapter we have not finished the book so I will continue to be apart of SIUAF and where ever possible promote, support and raise awareness and funds as I sure want to be standing with the team when the day comes and we can say we done it.

Best advice?

I go by a few things in life and the best piece of advice I learnt when I was put in the shoes of a Parkinson’s suffered (Which I believe would be the same for anyone with an illness) is that I found when people did not know about the project “illness” they would turn and look the other way but once I made the time or they were informed of the fundraiser “illness” they were more than happy to help any way they could. I guess what I am trying to say is don’t look the other way, try and understand and if you’re the one needing to be understood then speak up and communicate to others as reality is, it’s not we as people don’t care, we just don’t understand sometimes.