Father and daughter step up for a good cause
Saturday, 7.25am, Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge, Auckland
A father-daughter firefighting duo yesterday completed one of the most daunting challenges they’ve faced, honouring the memory of people close to them who were lost to cancer.
Tim Bell, 47, and daughter Meagan, 19, from the Kakanui Fire Brigade near Oamaru, took part in the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge yesterday, climbing 103 steps, or 60 levels, wearing full firefighter gear and carrying 25kg of equipment.
They were among more than 850 firefighters who in total raised more than $1 million for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.
As part of the Otago Rural Firefighter team, the pair helped raise about $15,000 for the national charity.
This was Meagan’s fourth Sky Tower Challenge. At the end of last year’s climb she decided to coax her dad, who’s been in the service for 25 years, into taking part this time.
They crossed the finish line minutes apart and completely exhausted. Tim was gasping as the event support crew quickly stripped him of his gears and Meagan was close to collapse.
Both, however, had plenty of motivation.
Tim’s helmet bore the names ‘‘Bonnie’’ and ‘‘John’’, and Meagan had a close connection to a family member who passed away from cancer.
Tim crossed the finish line in 16 minutes and 33 seconds and Meagan followed soon after with a time of 19min 38sec.
‘‘[By the time] we got to the tenth or eleventh floor, I just thought, ‘Really?’ but we hunkered down and focused on counting each floor down,’’ he said.
Meagan said it was ‘‘just blimmin’ awesome’’ to cross the finish line and it didn’t matter which of them was first.
‘‘It’d be cool if I beat him but at the same time I’ll be really proud of him too if he beats me,’’ she said.
Moments after they caught their breath, the pair were admiring the magnificent view from New Zealand’s tallest structure. Tim put his arm around his daughter and said, ‘‘We did it’’.