Darren John Ellwood is a bike rider on a mission.
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Since the beginning of the year, the local resident has both walked and cycled between Wellington and Dubbo to raise awareness for hepatitis C, a crippling disease he’s personally experienced for the past 20 years.
Mr Ellwood doesn’t want money or pity, he simply wants to be able to hold his head high and prove the illness can affect anyone.
“I was sick of people saying hepatitis C is just drug-related. That’s not the case for everyone and it wasn’t the case for me. I caught it from a blood transfusion,” he said.
“So on December 30th, I sat down with my partner and decided to do something about it.”
With assistance from Central West Nutrition and specifically Kellie Shipp, Mr Ellwood is now in remission and plans to spend the next few months riding along the Mitchell Highway.
“On the 1st of June, I’m going to ride all the way to Sydney,” he said.
“But I couldn’t do any of this without Kellie, who’s helped me to get my body and my immune system back.”
“It took two and a half years to recover from the treatment, but now that I have, I want my children and future grandchildren to be proud of me.”
