{"id":1665,"date":"2025-08-19T09:02:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/?p=1665"},"modified":"2025-08-27T12:48:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T12:48:32","slug":"alumni-adventures-a-look-back-at-steve-kealys-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/2025\/08\/19\/alumni-adventures-a-look-back-at-steve-kealys-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Adventures: A look back at Steve Kealy’s life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From organising inclusive soapbox races in South Africa during Apartheid, to co-founding the world\u2019s largest motorcycle charity ride, working in motorsports as both a race car driver and as a motoring journalist, and serving as a volunteer firefighter in Australia for two decades, Exeter alumnus Steve Kealy (MBA International Management, 1997) has lived a life of extraordinary service, adventure, and global citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Steve at the 2024 media briefing for Isuzu Trucks’ latest models.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Born in Libya, Steve was raised across Yemen, Nigeria, and South Africa, along with stints in Italy, France, Germany, and England. In his teens and while still at school, during \u2013 and despite \u2013 South Africa\u2019s Apartheid era, Steve arranged billy-cart (soap-box) races for kids of all races in the black township of Soweto near Johannesburg, where he lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 20s, he and his wife Liz launched The Toy Run<\/em><\/a>, an annual one-day motorcycle charity event to gather and distribute toys to under-privileged children before Christmas each year. From the outset, The Toy Run<\/em> was inclusive to all, with the event\u2019s motto being \u201cAll races welcome, All races benefit\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite personal death threats and Apartheid bureaucracy, the event became the largest multi-decade motorcycle charity event in the world, attracting up to 80,000 participants, with toys strapped to their bikes as they journeyed through the cities of South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in its fifth decade, The Toy Run<\/em> has benefitted between three and five million people. In 1992, Steve was thanked in person for his efforts by Dr (later President) Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside his charitable work on The Toy Run<\/em>, Steve has spent a portion of his life working in motorsports, where he began writing about motorcycles in 1984, and was then editing both car and bike magazines by 1986. By 1988, Steve was Motoring Editor of The Star newspaper in Johannesburg, becoming Group National Motoring Editor along the way. \u201cI was the South African Motoring Journalist of the Year twice, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, variously winning in the Magazine, Newspaper and Broadcast categories along the way,\u201d<\/em> Steve reminisces.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alumnus Steve in his element, on the race track.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Steve\u2019s passion for motorsports extended beyond his written and editorial work; between 1988 and 1994, he actively raced both cars and motorcycles. One highlight of Steve\u2019s racing career includes winning the Zimbabwe Grand Prix in 1993, his first race back after breaking his neck five months prior. \u201cThe prize money was enough to get the team, the car and my race bike back to the border, and I donated all ten cases of the sponsor\u2019s product (Australian beer) to the prize-giving party.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a year later, Steve moved to the UK in 1994, undertaking an MBA (International Management), at the University of Exeter\u2019s Business School. When asked about his fondest memories of his time at Exeter, Steve recalled \u201cBeing a country boy, in summer I enjoyed walking barefoot on the magnificent lawns between the Business School and the main campus. And visiting pubs which were twice as old as my country was a jolt, as was walking through the Roman tunnels\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Steve in front of a fire truck (with an Exeter sticker in the window!)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After graduating in 1995, Steve decided the English climate didn\u2019t quite agree with him, and career opportunities beckoned in Australia. Soon after settling in Australia, Steve joined the Country Fire Authority<\/a> (CFA) as a volunteer firefighter, and May 2025 marked 20 years of unbroken voluntary service. In that time, Steve has responded to several hundred emergencies, qualified to drive fire trucks, used his First Aid training to save a stranger\u2019s life, and has served as a Lieutenant, Community Engagement Officer, and Brigade President. Steve shares \u201cI have seen nature\u2019s fury in fire, flood and storm, attended structure fires, car crashes and comforted many people during the very worst days of their lives.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve has been awarded Australia\u2019s National Emergency Medal twice, for service during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, and again for the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season, known as Black Summer, one of the most catastrophic fire seasons on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, Steve has been awarded with the National Medal for dedicated service. He devotes around 400 hours a year to CFA duties, equivalent to around 10 working weeks per year. Both Steve\u2019s wife Liz, and his son Zach, are also qualified volunteer firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Steve and his wife Liz on their 2017 motorcycle adventure.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In 2017, Steve revisited his passion for motorsports, when he and his wife rode their motorcycles 45,000km, effectively the distance around the world, through 17 countries on four continents, including the entire length of South and Central America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Steve is an author of seven books, writing dark fiction and action thrillers, and is currently researching a PhD on the evolution of fictional male military action heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has most recently agreed to be a volunteer Ambassador and Role Model for the Books in Homes<\/a> charity, which provides free books to children living in remote, disadvantaged, and low socio-economic circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having lived such a varied and fulfilling life, we asked Steve what parting advice he would give to other alumni looking to make a meaningful impact: \u201cStay nimble, think globally, be bold, back yourself \u2013 and never miss the chance to be kind.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you would like to hear more from Steve and continue to follow along with his journey, you can find further details on his website<\/a>, and you can discover more about his published books online<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you have a story to share about your career since graduating from the University of Exeter, then we would love to hear from you! Our DMs are always open on socials (<\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a>,\u202f<\/strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a>, and\u202f<\/strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a>), or you can email us at\u202f<\/strong>alumni@exeter.ac.uk<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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