Farmer swims 1,650km Darling River for mates

0:00Give us a second chance at life. A farmer is swimming the length of one of Australia's longest and most remote rivers. Scott Gladman has turned his recent health scare into a quest to help two of his close mates. Here in the New South Wales Outback, the beginning of an epic journey. Scott Gladman is swimming the entire length of the mighty Darling River, all 1,650 kilometres of it. Scott is 63 and manages a large scale farm in Northern Victoria, but in 2017, Scott got a checkup with alarming results. I had blocked arteries, I was a tick and time bomb, simple as that. Scott had life-saving surgery. Then, 36-year-old family friend Pat Russell was diagnosed with modern-year-own disease and his long-time mate Russ Waddle, a rare form of Parkinson's.

1:05I got a second opportunity and these bikes don't get a second opportunity. I'd like to raise a few funds and get a bit of money. After starting near Briwarina, the journey takes him all the way to where the Darling meets the Murray. Scott's given himself three months. He'll miss the Victorian election, harvest and his son's wedding in the US. We think we might decorate the boat a little bit with just married and stuff like that, but I'll be really, really, me thought we'll be with them on that day. Scott's been forced to walk in parts and clear a few snags, all part of the challenge for this ordinary Victorian doing an extraordinary thing. I shouldn't be here and got two grandkids now and as always, it gets me quite emotional all I would never get to meet them. I'm just really lucky to be here. Alex Cullen, seven years.