When Ryan Franks had a heart attack, he had no choice but to treat himself.
The emergency nurse, who now works at Heal Urgent Care at Maitland, was in remote Western Australia at the time.
"I thought I was a dead man," he said.
After saving his own life with help from the state's emergency telehealth system, the Royal Flying Doctor Service flew him to hospital.
"I haven't done anything to thank them and I've always admired the work they've done," Ryan said.
"I wanted a way to give back."
On Sunday, he'll begin a three-day walk as part of this month's Oceans to Outback fundraiser for the Flying Doctors.
He'll walk 81 kilometres in total - one kilometre for every Flying Doctor aircraft across Australia.
Each year, the 24-hour operation flies more than 35,000 people to get medical care and provides more than 60,000 telehealth services.
It also runs about 25,000 GP, nurse and dental clinics.
Ryan was in the small town of Coral Bay in Western Australia in 2017 when he needed the Flying Doctors.
He had just finished work when he received a text message from his ex-wife.
"She was saying thank you for everything I'd done for her," Ryan, now 51, said.
"I could feel my blood pressure rise."
He had chest pain and had to lie down.
"I got up and the room was spinning. I looked in the mirror and looked awful," he said.
"I pretty much knew what I was looking at."
Ryan, of Newcastle, has spent 30 years working across Australia and overseas.
At the time of his heart attack, he was working at Coral Bay Nursing Post.
With the post's nurses away, he called St John Ambulance volunteers to support him.
"I couldn't do it by myself, there was no way," he said.
Nonetheless, he attached himself to an ECG machine and drew blood to check he was having a heart attack.
With advice from a telehealth nurse on her first shift, he cannulated himself in both arms and administered a clot-busting drug that saved his life.
"We only had the one vial. I made sure after that to always have two," he said.
"Even making the drug up, you can make a mistake with it. It was critical I got it right."
At hospital, he had a stent inserted and returned to work soon after.
It's been almost seven years since Ryan's ordeal and his own health is back on his mind.
He felt the fitness and fundraising challenge was a good way to boost his physical and mental health.
"I needed to do something to get fit and moving again. It's good to have a goal to move towards," he said.
He's now staying at Blacksmiths and enjoys working at Heal Maitland.
But given his thirst for travel, he had "no idea how long I'll be here".
"I've been here since May," he said.
"My family and mates are here, but I'll know when it's time to go."
He had spent three years in England and done "four tours of New Zealand".
As well as Coral Bay, he singled out Cape York, Cocos Islands and Christmas Island as beautiful spots.
"Every 2 to 2.5 years I get bored and go somewhere else. There's too many places to see," he said.
"Whatever area might get my interest, or what an agency might throw my way, I roll with that."
