Collingullie couple, retired Wagga paramedic among those helping Kidney Kar Rally kids

Vicky and Shane Lisle will travel to Cairns with Phil Hoey for the 2022 Kidney Kar Rally, which is making a mammoth comeback after COVID-19 disruptions.

Mr Hoey, a retired Wagga paramedic of 45 years who provides first aid to rally participants, began participating in the annual charity drive in 1994 - making this his 27th year.

"I started in 1994 when I was in charge of the ambulance service in Cowra. We had a guy there who was only 17 years old and had been on home dialysis and hadn't been away from his house for two years," he said.

"We took him on the Kidney Kar Rally with us and took his dialysis machine with us. I've always been involved in rallying, so it was two passions coming together."

The annual rally garners funds which go towards Kidney Kids Camps.

Mr Hoey knows all too well how debilitating kidney disease can be.

"The camps allow these kids who have to be on dialysis three days a week, six to eight hours a day, to be normal kids for a week with their whole family and their mum and dad haven't got to worry about their dialysis," he said.

"I used to see the plight of people on dialysis and that was my passion even way back then.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"Their life revolves around dialysis. What happens when you have kidney failure is you don't wee, you can't just go home and drink glasses of water. As humans, we should be drinking two to three litres of water a day [so] imagine it being 40 degrees and only being able to have two to three glasses of water a day.

"It also affects their lungs and their blood pressure. They basically have to have a cannula put in their arm twice a day, which takes their blood out of their body, filters it and cleans it and puts it back into their body."

For Mr Lisle, a true motorhead, and Mrs Lisle, the navigator, the rally is a way of doing something they love, while also doing something good for someone else.

"Kidney transplants aren't a cure, they're a treatment and the waiting lists are long," Mrs Lisle said.

"Those who are lucky enough to get a transplant then have to take anti-rejection drugs and they have side effects. Cancer is a huge side effect of the anti-rejection drugs."

Mrs Lisle said the camps were a way for them to give children facing those battles a couple of days of normalcy.

"It changed our worlds, the kids we've met and the lifelong friends we have made," she said.

The duo take a bright pink car every year, this year being their fifth, with Mr Lisle in the driver's seat. However, if you ask Mrs Lisle, it's not a good driver that lands a team the win, it's a good navigator.

The rally will start on August 10 in Cairns and travel to Dubbo via the Gold Coast.

There will be eight cars leaving from Wagga to Cairns ahead of the rally on August 4, with several Wagga teams set to participate.

There are still a few days left to donate to the team of choice, with the top 10 teams with the highest amount of donations securing one of the 10 best starting positions.

You can make a donation to Mr and Mrs Lisle's team online at fundraise.kidney.org.au/fundraisers/BelfraydenBandits. To support Mr Hoey's fundraising effort, visit: fundraise.kidney.org.au/fundraisers/philhoey.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: