This Stormtrooper Cosplayer Is Walking Around Australia To Raise Money For Sick Kids

Australia is a big place; it’s pretty hot and there are flies everywhere. If it could be likened to any fictional land it would be Mars in Total Recall (the Arnie version). Naturally, most people like to travel around our great country in the comfort of air-conditioning, or at least normal clothing.

But a lone Stormtrooper is walking across Australia, unaided, to raise money for charity. Scott Loxley, a 47-year-old father of three, has so far completed 9,000 kilometres of his 15,000 kilometre trek with no support crew, while wearing a full Sandtrooper costume.

So, uh, why the suit?

Loxley is part of an international (interstellar?) volunteer group known as the 501st Legion, an organisation “formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts under a collective identity within which to operate. The legion seeks to promote interest in Star Wars through the building of quality costumes, and to facilitate the use of these costumes for Star Wars-related events as well as contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work”.

Loxley aims to raise $100,000 for the Monash Children’s Hospital ahead of its opening in 2017, and with about 6,000 kilometres left he has raised over $23,000 already. On his Facebook page Loxley says, “As a father, if one of my children were hospitalised, I would want them to be cared for by the best staff that have access to the best equipment”.

In an interview with Mashable, Loxley said that one of the biggest issues he faces is carrying food for the trip. In a move that would make Bear Grylls proud, he has taken to eating snakes, kangaroos, lizards and bats. “I put the lizards on the coals, put them in a zip lock bag for protein and snack on them on the road”, he said.

Loxley’s Stormtrooper costume is starting to wear after 375 days on the road. After going through 20 pairs of shoes, he proved to be quite the MacGyver; Loxley used an old tyre found on the side of the road to restore the sole of his shoe, which is still kicking along after 3,000 kilometres

You can donate to Loxley’s Everyday Hero page here.

May the force be with you, you bloody legend!

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H/t Mashable. Feature image via Scott Loxley/Facebook.