Airdate: The Ride: East Coast

If you’re a Bondi Rescue fan, ONE screens a special, The Ride: East Coast, featuring Trent “Maxi” Maxwell and Jesse Polock, who rode jet skis the length of the Australian East Coast for Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation.

Millions of fans around the world know Trent “Maxi” Maxwell and Jesse Polock as the heroes of Bondi Rescue. But beyond the sun, surf and sex appeal of Bondi’s white sands, Maxi and Jesse experience a dark side to Australia’s busiest beach: youth mental illness. Over the years, they have dealt with everything from self-harm to suicide, and retrieved countless bodies of young people like them.

Desperate to do more, Maxi and Jesse became ambassadors for Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation. They set out to learn what drives young Aussies to such despair, and more importantly, how they can overcome it. On jet skis, the boys went where no one has gone before, riding the length of Australia’s East Coast. Along the way, they met inspirational young Australians who have overcome drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, homophobia and depression to become dancers, bodybuilders, artists and even an outback tent boxer.

Spending up to eight hours a day on the water, Maxi and Jesse battled huge waves, headwinds, blistering heat, mechanical failures, sharks, box jellyfish and crocodiles. They were stretched physically and mentally, their friendship was tested and, at times, they seemed sure to fail.
The Ride East Coast is a journey through Australian adolescence by two young men still working it out themselves. Emotional, comical and uplifting, it is an inspiring insight into growing up.

Sunday at 7.30pm on ONE.