NSW parents walk for children's charity in Sydney Coastrek

"When we're struggling to get through the walk, I think we'll just all think of her," Mrs Peake, who lives at Barraba, said.

Their 18-hour journey along Sydney's northern beaches will form part of the Heart Foundation's annual hiking challenge Coastrek, which kicks off on March 24.

Every cent above the $2,000 the two have already raised for the Healthy Hearts Charity will go towards Ruby Mae's Wish Foundation, which honours the memory of their daughter Ruby, who unexpectedly passed away in April 2022.

She was just four years old when a gastro bug took a turn into a rare complication no parent could ever expect, Mrs Peake said.

"We're finding that doing something positive and trying to help others is like helping ourselves," she said.

READ MORE:

The pair will be split into two teams of four, with Kim, her two sisters Helena Walker and Leah Williamson from Tamworth and best friend Heather Morgan from Queensland making up Ruby's Dance Monkeys.

"Dance monkeys by Tones and I was her favourite song and if something ever looked funny to her she'd say, 'look at that funny fulla'," Mrs Peake said.

Nick Peake and his brother Kris Walker, best mate Callam McCarthy and friend Jay Morgan will compete as Ruby's Funny Fulla's team.

Mrs Peake said the hike will be a challenge, but that she and husband Nick have kept to a daily training regime of 12-kilometre round trips to their Barraba farm mailbox.

They hope to raise enough to donate $20,000 to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit PICU at John Hunter Hospital for lifesaving equipment via their charity.

The pair will also piece together toiletry kits for parents whose children are rushed to, or transferred between, hospitals, Mrs Peake said.

"Often retrievals happen quite quickly and the mothers or fathers end up at a hospital without anything," Mrs Peake said.

Ruby is survived by her younger brother Barney, and older sister Holly.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: