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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Local firefighters rise to challenge

By Alice Lock
Hawkes Bay Today·
14 May, 2017 05:46 PM3 mins to read

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Tamatea Rural Fire Force firefighter Tom Heywood completed the Firefighter Sky Tower Stairs Challenge to raise funds for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand on Saturday. Photo/supplied.

Tamatea Rural Fire Force firefighter Tom Heywood completed the Firefighter Sky Tower Stairs Challenge to raise funds for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand on Saturday. Photo/supplied.

Local firefighters wore their hearts on their sleeves on Saturday as they climbed up 51 flights of stairs while wearing 25 kilograms of kit in support of those who have battled leukaemia.

The annual Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand's (LBC) Sky Tower Stair challenge raised $1,246,166.35 and saw more than 600 firefighters from as far as America take on 1103 steps.

Central Hawke's Bay's Tamatea Rural Fire Force entered the challenge for the first time and raised $21,505.

Napier Fire Service officer Shane Cunningham  competes in the Firefighter Sky Tower Stairs Challenge.
Napier Fire Service officer Shane Cunningham competes in the Firefighter Sky Tower Stairs Challenge.

The team, made up of Tom Heywood and Mike Bennie, finished eighth on the leaderboard overall for the amount raised.

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In their category of teams made up of two to five people, the pair walked away with a second for amount raised and a trophy for overall fundraising per number of members.

Mr Heywood alone raised $19,192 putting him fourth on the overall leaderboard and third in his category.

"It was an amazing experience and being able to give back on a national basis was incredible."

"What I have done for six months and then the 15 minutes of agony on Saturday was insignificant to what people who were diagnosed with cancer go through. I would do it all again in a heartbeat knowing I am helping these people."

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Mr Heywood's family friend was diagnosed with leukaemia four months ago and with the photo of her on his back he dug deep and charged to the top.

"The heat was phenomenal and it was incredibly hard but I just thought about her and how much this challenge would benefit her."

Raising just shy of $20,000 was no easy feat for Mr Heywood.

He made himself known to Central Hawke's Bay businesses, held raffles and embarked on bucket shakes.

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He even held a bucket outside the Mission Concert for four hours.

"It really came down to the generosity of the community, I was just the voice and face, they were the ones who did it."

"It is so humbling and I can't thank local businesses Mitre 10 Mega Waipukurau, Bel Group Dairy Farms, Gifford Devine Waipukurau, Isaac's Electrical, Brownrigg Agriculture and Lester Gray enough."

Mr Heywood also thanked his wife Rebecca for her ongoing support while he trained for the past six months.

Napier Fire Service members also took on the challenge and raised $15,306 for the charity.

This total put the team 16th on the leaderboard and Napier volunteer firefighter Jonathan Claybourn, who raised $5647 alone was 11th on the individual leaderboard.

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Napier Fire Service officer Shane Cunningham finished third in the master's category with a time of 12 minutes and eight seconds.

"I had my target in mind and it was well planned as I had three songs of four minutes."

"I knew after the first song I needed to be on the 17th floor and after the second song I needed to be on the 34th floor and so on."

Mr Cunningham trained in Napier since February but said the challenge for him was the amount of floors.

"I always like to challenge myself physically and to do it for such a good cause was well worth it."

Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand CEO Pru Etcheverry said they couldn't thank the wonderful group of firefighters and their supporting communities enough.

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"The amount of effort and time they have invested into fundraising and training for the event on top of their usual lives and jobs helps LBC continue to run its service supporting Kiwis and their families across New Zealand who live with a blood cancer."

Last year's event raised $1.16 million for LBC, which receives no government funding.

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