WORLD FIRST: Brando Yelavich will be crossing Australia on a bicycle
Cycling almost 5000km across the Australian desert in just 90 days is the challenge a young New Zealander will be taking next month.
Brando Yelavich is believed to be the first person to ever cycle across Australia through the desert.
All in a bid to promote positive mental health. It's a cause close to 25-year-old Yelavich's heart.
His childhood struggle with ADHD and depression saw him slowly slipping of the rails to the point he considered taking his own life at the age of 16.
"I thought that there was no point in living if I was stuck with ADHD my whole life and that was obviously just my mind playing tricks on me and making me not the person I am today," Yelavich told the Herald.
He fell into a world of drugs and was at the point of considering joining a gang and heading towards prison when he decided to turn his life around.
"I woke up one morning and realised my parents didn't raise me to be this bad person and I got this thought to walk around New Zealand so that's what I did," Yelavich said.
The young Aucklander became the first person to circumnavigate the coastline of New Zealand on foot.
"This 600-day, 8700km expedition changed every aspect of my life," he said.
Now, six years later, he has multiple extreme expeditions under his belt including crossing the Greenland icecap and a Vancouver Island circumnavigation.
On May 15, he will conquer his most challenging one yet.
Starting at Steep Point in Western Australia, Yelavich will cycle 4670km across the Australian desert to Byron Bay on the east coast.
He wants to help promote positive mental wellness by inspiring people to learn about themselves, understand what they are capable of and gain a connection with nature.
The biggest threats he will face include limited water, snakes, spiders, intense heat and isolation.
He will share the challenge with a complete stranger who has faced her own mental health battles, Loren Kett.
Kiwi woman Loren Kett, a stranger to Brando Yelavich, will join him on the challenge. Photo / File
"A huge part of the market who I want to inspire is women and I can't do that alone so by bringing Loren along and sharing her journey of change and resilience I hope to be able to inspire all humans rather than just young men," Yelavich said.
Together, the pair will complete the journey with no support.
Yelavich plans to organise a fundraising event to encourage people to join them in the last 50km.
