The bloke behind the story
He's got red dirt, a hell of a story, and a way of telling it that makes a room full of strangers feel like mates.
The station yearsBrendan spent his whole life on sheep stations around Broken Hill, most recently managing Kars Station, where he lived with his wife Jacinta and their three kids. Big country, long days, hard work and for years, a secret he kept even from himself.
He did what plenty of bush blokes do: worked harder, drank more, said "nah, I'm fine," and quietly fell apart. Depression doesn't care how tough you are or how many kilometres you can drive without seeing another soul. If anything, all that distance just gives it room to grow.
In 2015, Brendan walked through the doors of Broken Hill Base Hospital and said four words that changed everything:
"I need help. I'm buggered."
The swimWhat came next, nobody saw coming - least of all Brendan. A bloke living 600km from the nearest beach took up open water swimming, training at dawn in the murky Menindee Lakes. In 2022 he swam the English Channel: 17 hours in the water, 64km after the currents had their way with him.
He's since swum the Channel again with a team, run a 100km ultramarathon on the station, and in 2025 knocked over the Catalina Channel in California. A mate once told him, "keep swimming until you hit something." He took it literally and it turns out it works for the other stuff too.
NowAsk him what he's most proud of and he won't say the English Channel. He'll say the messages (from farmers, tradies, dads) who heard him speak and finally made the call.
These days Brendan has hung up the work boots and tells his story full-time — at conferences and field days, in schools and boardrooms, on radio and telly. He's the author of The Desert Swimmer (Allen & Unwin), co-written with Paul Mitchell.
Paying it back
Asking for help saved his life. Helping others ask is how he pays it back.
Lifeline Regional SA & Far West NSW
Brendan has been a Lifeline Regional SA & Far West NSW Ambassador since 2017, supporting the crisis line and suicide prevention work across some of the most remote country in Australia.
We’ve Got Your Back - Royal Flying Doctor Service
Brendan is a Champion with We've Got Your Back, the Royal Flying Doctor Service's peer-support program run with Lifeline — training people in remote communities to spot the signs and check in on their mates before things reach crisis point.