So, you’re driving along one of Australia's endless highways, watching a figure get larger in your windscreen.

As they get closer, you see a converted baby stroller loaded with camping gear, pushed by a weathered man in his forties.

His feet are bleeding, his body aches, but there's something unmistakable in his stride; pure determination.

Meet Bruce Bolger, known on social media as Lost Digger, who is currently attempting to become the fastest human in the world to walk solo across Australia, unsupported. But this isn't just about breaking records.

This is about a man who lost friends to suicide and decided to do something extraordinary to show others that it's okay to not be okay.

Bruce's story begins with heartbreak. After 25 years in the Australian Defence Force, where he'd risen to the rank of warrant officer, he was medically discharged in February 2023.

"Defence said you're a liability if you stay because of your injuries," he recalls. "Even though defence caused my injuries through my service, here's a medical discharge."

The injuries were serious; ruptured spine, multiple operations, spinal fusions.

"They once told me that I was supposed to be in a wheelchair," Bruce says matter-of-fact. But the physical wounds weren't the only ones that needed healing.

"When I left the army, I was lost," he explains, which is why he chose the name Lost Digger for his social media presence. "I didn't know what to do. What was my purpose?

“A lot of people commit suicide or take their own lives or get depressed when they leave defence and they don't have that; what do you do every day? What's that goal?"

It was the loss of his friends that sparked this incredible journey.

"I lost 13 friends to suicide in three-and-a- half years," Bruce says quietly.

"That's what made me start this journey." He sold everything he had and began travelling.

First, he cycled around Australia— not for the Black Dog Institute, as some might assume, but to raise awareness about mental health on his own terms.

Every single day, Bruce covers between 43 and 53 kilometres, walking eight to 10 hours daily despite chronic pain.

"I start walking and I get a cramp in my leg or pain in my foot, and I just walk through it and it goes away," he says.

"For me, it's just one foot in front of the other."

His equipment travels in what he proudly describes as a converted baby stroller— complete with suspension and the ability to double as a bicycle trailer.

"Everything you need," he says, showing off the two sleeping bags inside.

The physical challenge is immense, but Bruce sees it as part of the message. "If I can do this hardship, hopefully people will see it and they can go, okay, my life's not that bad," he explains.

"I've got bleeding feet, I've got aches and pains every day, but honestly, I don't know how I do it." The mental approach is everything to Bruce. His biggest piece of advice?

"Make your bed. If you make your bed, you do one thing and you've set your goal for the whole day.

“You've accomplished one thing and that will set your whole day up." But there's a deeper meaning there too.

"When you make your bed, that's another meaning—like in life, you cause stuff to happen in your life, and now you fix it," he reflects.

Bruce is funding this entire journey himself, having cancelled a GoFundMe page because he felt it was unethical not knowing exactly where the money would go.

"Everything goes to my existence because everything I'm paying out of my savings to do this," he says.

The community response has been overwhelming - truckies leaving money at roadhouses, families driving hours to walk with him and bring groceries.

"Someone drove an hour with their family to meet me and walk with me and gave me a bag of groceries," he recalls with genuine amazement.

"These people were a whole family. Three times it was a whole family." People follow his journey on social media and you can find him by searching LostDigger.

The response keeps him going on the hardest days. "Every day I wake up and go, especially when it's cold now, what am I doing?

“And then I realise I get so much response from people on comments saying how I've inspired them." Bruce expects to finish his walk around July 16 at Bondi Beach in Sydney, having started at Cottesloe Beach in Perth—Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean.

After that? He's already planning his next challenge: walking from Adelaide to Melbourne via Hobart, inviting others to join him on various sections.

"You don't have to be fit to do it—you get fit doing it," he says with a grin. "And that's the best thing about hiking. You just got to stick with it."

The weight loss has been dramatic—13 to 14 kilograms so far.

"The fat went and then all the muscles had to go now," he laughs. But perhaps Bruce's most important message is about resilience.

"Always remember, you've got 40 per cent left," he says. "That's your fight flight, that's your survival, that 40 per cent. You can survive and you can keep going.

"Life is hard. I'm going through pain every day, but my biggest thing is mindset.

“If you decide to do something and you really want to do it, yeah, there's pain in the beginning and it hurts, but you only get fitter doing it."

Bruce's journey isn't just about covering kilometres or breaking records. It's about showing that when life knocks you down—when you lose friends, when your body fails you, when institutions that defined your identity no longer want you—you can still choose to put one foot in front of the other.

His message is clear: It's okay to not be okay, but if you want to change, it starts with you and your mindset.