THE morning after his grandfather died, 16-year-old Jack Gilmour laced up his shoes and kept his promise.
At 7:30am on Monday 29 June, just hours after his beloved ‘Poppa David’ passed away in hospital, the St Bede’s College Year 11 student set out from his Cheltenham home on the first day of his seven-day, 400,000-step fundraising challenge for Motor Neurone Disease. David’s final hours on Sunday 28 June had been spent watching his much-loved Kangaroos record a win.
Jack had spent the preceding week visiting his grandfather in hospital.
“He was aware of what was going on with my planned walk,” said Jack. “He went knowing what was happening.”
David, who lived in Black Rock, had been a constant presence in Jack’s younger years, often picking him up from school and going on walks together. When not with his grandchildren, David regularly donated his time to St Vincent de Paul’s and attended church every Sunday.
“He was just a very funny guy and he just loved hanging out with his grandkids,” said Jack. “He was an incredibly caring man.”
The family first noticed something was wrong about three years ago, when David began repeating phrases and losing his memory. He was initially diagnosed with dementia, but further brain scans revealed the true cause.
“Over the last six months, his health just really hit the wall pretty quickly,” said Jack.
David received an official MND diagnosis about 10 weeks ago, though it is believed the disease had been present for much longer.
The idea for the challenge came to Jack in a moment of reflection at home with his younger brother Lachie.
“I was thinking, what could I do to give some respect to Poppa with something that he loved to do,” said Jack. “I wanted to push myself to the limits.”
400,000 people worldwide are currently living with MND, which is why Jack chose that number as the step count for his challenge. At roughly 60,000 steps a day (the equivalent of walking from Southland to the MCG and back), Jack was setting out around 7am each morning and arriving home in the early evening. In the first four days, he had already covered the distance to the MCG twice and walked as far as Frankston, with family and friends joining him along the way. Each evening, he visited the Danny Frawley Centre in Moorabbin for ice bath recovery.
His fundraising goal for Fight MND started at $4,000, but was soon bumped up. “I was just buzzing because everyone got around it,” said Jack, after the target was reached in under 48 hours.
The goal now stands at $16,000, with over $13,000 already raised.
“MND is a disease that is incurable and also genetic,” he said. “We need to find a cure for it, because otherwise it will affect generations and generations to come.”
To donate to Jack’s fundraiser for Fight MND, visit gofund.me/0f45f9c2f or follow him on Instagram at @stepmnd
First published in the Frankston Times – 7 July 2026
