Life has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Peter Lanyon, but the Mt Annan resident just keeps going.
Mr Lanyon lost Jodie, the oldest of his three daughters to kidney disease when she was just 22.
That was 24 years ago.
Eight years ago, his wife Wendy, who had given one of her kidneys to Jodie for a transplant, also passed away.
Last week, the 70 year old received two special commendations for taking part in every single Kidney Kar Rally ever held.
Think about that: Peter Lanyon has not missed a single rally, which started in 1989.
That’s 35 years without a break; doing the fundraising beforehand then organising for the week long rally to some part of Australia, and back home to Mt Annan.
This extraordinary man has absorbed life’s low blows by just keep doing something that helps others.
He does confess that there have been times when he thought about chucking it in.
“There have been moments in my life when I thought of giving up on all this,’’ he tells the South West Voice when we talk on the phone yesterday.
“But my next door neighbour grabbed me and said, c’mon, let’s go, so I just kept going,’’ he says.
Mr Lanyon raised more than $17,000 as part of the 2024 rally.
But no doubt he has lost count of how much he has raised in total over 35 years.
Just as he has lost count of how many Holden cars he’s put through their paces every year – the rally has gone to every corner of our great country, from Perth to Darwin and Tasmania.
“I did drive a Ford vehicle when I was working, but I am a Holden man,’’ he says.
“I started out with a HR Holden for the first rally in ‘89, then it was an LJ Torana, followed by Commodores: I’ve had the VN for 10 years.’’
He says there are no plans to retire from participating in the rally, which this year raised $485,000. Funds raised go towards programs for kidney kids and support for their families.
In recent years his youngest daughter Debbie has gone along with him on the rally, and Mr Lanyon says he has really enjoyed having her along.
“It’s great having her take part with me; we get to bond while raising funds for Kidney Health Australia, who do a great job,’’ he says.
“It’s also an opportunity to see many parts of our wonderful country.’’
Mr Lanyon has retired from fulltime work as a compositor in the printing and publishing industry mostly,
“I have retired from work, but I haven’t retired from life,” he says.
And he won it this year finally 😀