Rural disability advocate travelling 440km in wheelchair to raise money

Rural disability advocate wheels 440km to raise money for mental health support Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 11:03am In short: Sam Longmore is on a 440km journey in her wheelchair across country New South Wales to raise money for rural mental health. Partially paralysed in a car crash in 2013, Ms Longmore is hoping to raise awareness and support people who are struggling. What's next? Ms Longmore is set to finish her eight-day journey from Corowa to Yass on July 4. More than 400 kilometres is a long way to push yourself in a wheelchair, let alone to complete the journey in just over a week, in the rain. But that is just what 32-year-old Sam Longmore is doing as she makes her way across rural New South Wales from Corowa to Yass, pushing herself with only her left hand and left foot, to raise money for rural mental health. Ms Longmore was paralysed down her right side in a car crash nearly 13 years ago. "[It's] been a physical journey, but also a mental one too, because I had to start again in all aspects," she said. A crowd of people gathered in Corowa at the weekend, rugged up in coats and beanies to cheer on Ms Longmore at the start of her trip, which she's called "The Big Wheel". She is averaging about 50km a day. "I'm really hoping to connect a few dots, start a few conversations, show people that they're not alone," Ms Longmore said. "In rural, regional, remote areas, isolation [and] loneliness is a really, really big thing because of our distance from one another a lot of the time." In October 2013, Ms Longmore crashed her car while driving home to Yass after working a night shift in Canberra. But that was not the end of the drama that day, when the ambulance she was in also crashed. "So I had two car accidents on the same stretch of road in two different states in a matter of 45 minutes," Ms Longmore said. "I sustained a spinal cord injury [in the car crash], and I'm paralysed down my right-hand side. "So no sensation or movement from just above my collarbone all the way down to my toes on my right-hand side." Despite the challenges of her disability, Ms Longmore now runs multiple businesses, including contract weed spraying and public speaking. She is also a champion water skier, and even broke her paralysed leg while waterskiing this year. Rural mental health Ms Longmore's goal is to raise $200,000 for rural mental health services, Rural Aid and Riverina Bluebell. Rural Aid's national manager for mental health and wellbeing, Myf Pitcher, said Ms Longmore was an inspiration. "She's a small town farm girl herself and really understands the pressures that come with farming and particularly the mental pressures," Ms Pitcher said. "There's that whole idea that farmers are the backbone and they're strong and they're resilient. "They actually face some pretty tough challenges from things beyond their control: Mother Nature, government decisions, trade prices, all those sorts of things." Steve Matthews, the vice-chair of the volunteer-run charity Riverina Bluebell, said mental health was a major issue in the region. "The Riverina is notorious as a high suicide area," he said. "We do what we can to try to alleviate that, but again, people need to talk about it. "It's a fact of life, and if you talk about it, it becomes a subject that's not taboo, and it's something that can be addressed properly." Ms Longmore said she was hoping her trip would encourage people to reach out for help. "No matter the difficult situation that you might find yourself in, you will get out of that," she said. "Talk to your mates, keep people close ... you can do hard things." Ms Longmore is due to wheel into Yass on July 4 to conclude her journey. [Image text:] COROWA COROWA