Gosford Hospital nurse Benny Morton has chalked up more than 3,000 push-ups in support of mental health charities.
Morton joined the national Push-Up Challenge promoting mental health awareness and much-needed funds for mental health charities, which requires participants to complete 3,139 push-ups over a 24-day period.
The figure represents the 3,139 people who sadly took their lives in 2020.
Member for Robertson, Gordon Reid MP, popped in to offer Morton support on the last day of his challenge.
“Benny recently reached out to me over social media and asked whether I would be happy to join him as he recorded his final day of his challenge,” Reid said.
“As a fellow medical colleague and a mental health advocate myself, I was more than willing to lend my support.
“Mental health awareness is close to my heart and as someone who has seen it firsthand in our emergency departments and the impacts it has across the wider community, any support I can provide to raise awareness or funding means a great deal to me.
“In our country, nine Australians take their lives every day and 75 per cent of this figure are male.
“We need to be doing more as a nation to reduce this frightening statistic and initiatives like The Push-Up Challenge work to make that change in Australia.”
Reid said the challenge has already raised $9.5M this year.
“This is an incredible outcome and I thank Benny and every other 2022 participant for helping achieve this figure and contributing to mental health awareness,” he said.
Morton said he had received huge support his family, friends, and work colleagues.
“The support I have received this year has been phenomenal,” he said.
“I have managed to raise over $3,000 towards mental health charities including Lifeline and Movember.
“Each day I have been recording my push-ups to catalogue my progress and to show to the people who have joined me throughout my 24 days.
“I was very appreciative to Dr Reid for agreeing to feature in my final video and for the support that he can bring to this cause.
“I encourage residents to get behind next year’s challenge and be a part of this great initiative.
“You will get fit, healthier, and importantly improve mental health awareness not only for yourself but many others in Australia.
“I will again participate in next year’s challenge and hope to convince a few more of my family and friends to get onboard too.”
The Push-Up Challenge started in 2017 when a group of friends decided to get healthier for summer.
They each agreed to do 3,000 push-ups and to motivate and support each other over the period.
The challenge has continued to grow and expand into the annual event that has seen over 170,000 Australians participate and raise awareness and funds for mental health.
The Push-Up Challenge occurs each year from June 1-24.
To get involved and for more information about registering for next year’s challenge, visit: https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/home.
Source:
Media release, Jul 1
Member for Robertson, Gordon Reid
