From Rohan to Mohan
November 6, 2024in Community News
Ambulance Victoria (AV) Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic Rohan Anstey is raising the stakes this Movember: reach $100,000 and he’ll officially be a changed man – starting with his name.
Men’s health has always been close to Rohan’s heart, and his work only fuelled his drive to make a lasting impact.
As such, he knew he wanted to “go big” this Movember – his seventh time participating in the campaign.
“Seeing someone that’s taken their own life never leaves you. You see wave after wave of family and friends and their grief is palpable and gut-wrenching,” he said.
“If I can save one person by encouraging them to seek help, that’s an achievement for me.
“The messages of Movember are something I live by every day of the year. I’m more than happy to put my hard work behind it to raise much needed funds and awareness.”
After being crowned Mr Movember in 2022, Rohan knew he needed to stand out from the crowd this year in order to reach his ambitious fundraising goal, which led him to “Mohan”.
“I was trying to come up with a gimmick to catch people’s attention and it just came to me,” he said.
“I announced it at the end of Movember last year and I think a lot of people thought I’d forget about it halfway through this year.
“But I need to go all in – go hard or go home!”
Rohan Anstey has pledged to officially change his name to Mohan if he reaches his $100,000 fundraising goal.
After running the idea past his wife and mum, the campaign “Rohan going Mohan” was born.
While aware of the difficulties changing his name might cause, Rohan said he was overjoyed by the reaction he had received so far.
“When I tell people what I’m doing, the reaction has been nothing but belly laughs. It brings natural joy to people,” he said.
“The concept behind Movember is to start a conversation about men’s health. While my idea may be lunacy, if it gets a couple people talking then it’s worth it.”
Rohan is captain of the AV Moustached Medics Movember group, with all proceeds from the team going towards his goal.
AV Executive Director People and Culture Jesse Maddison said it was great to see Rohan going above and beyond for such a worthwhile cause.
“Through their work, our paramedics all too often see the devastating impacts of men not seeking help for their mental or physical health,” he said.
“We’re proud to see Rohan supporting Movember to raise awareness about these important topics and initiate conversations to encourage positive change.
“We hope the community gets behind Rohan to reach his goal and we look forward to welcoming him back to work as Mohan.”
If you’d like to help Rohan become Mohan, you can donate to his fundraising page.