Mount Gambier’s Jodie Glasson and Alex Senior have been walking to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) ‘Oceans to Outback Challenge’ throughout October.

The couple’s son, Eli, was born on July 27 at the Mount Gambier Hospital and required a transfer to Flinders Medical centre through the RFDS and SAAS MedSTAR Kids when he was five days old.

The RFDS gave the family peace of mind their son was in good hands and Ms Glasson said they were indebted to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

“They are just fantastic people with fantastic skills and kindness, and not just for Eli but for us as well,” she said.

“They really looked after all of us, so I think that is really quite central to what the RFDS do.

“A lot of people in the town, everyone knows someone who has had someone who has been retrieved and cared for by the RFDS so it is such a widespread thing, they touch a lot of lives.”

Their team, ‘Eli’s Excellent Exercisers,’ includes themselves, former Mount Gambier residents Nathan Prime and Kirra Milich from Gawler, Natasha Wilson from Clare and Kara Walker from Adelaide.

The team is completing 452km total, with Ms Glasson walking 79km and Mr Senior walking 42km and they have raised nearly $3800, exceeding their initial $3000 fundraising goal.

“Amongst our team everyone knows someone who has been affected, one of our team himself on the day he was born had an aeromedical retrieval,” Ms Glasson said.

“It has been good for us as a new family to get out of the house too, just to get out, go for a walk and know that what we are doing is helping other people.

“I guess we wanted to give back after our experience and this has been a really great way to do it.”

The ‘Buckland Trailblazer Team’ is another local team participating in the challenge who have supported the RFDS for many years.

Team member Jen’s father suffered a heart attack while driving a road train at Olympic Dam and the efforts of the RFDS saved his life.

Three team members are cycling around 150km per week for the cause, one is cycling 250km per week and another is running 94km along with riding mountain bike trails around the Valley Lakes.

Local Jessica Porter is also taking part in the challenge, who pledged to walk 42km, has completed 44km and raised $470 so far.

“The RFDS is a vital service for our rural and remote areas,” Ms Porter said.

“I have had a huge number of family and friends who have needed to use RFDS services and wanted to show my support.”

Visit oceanstooutback.org.au/sponsor to donate to the teams.