For every one of the 1103 steps Lydia Lester climbed on May 23, she was thinking of a little girl back home.
Lydia was one of three Pūriri volunteer firefighters tackling the annual Firefighter Sky Tower challenge, along with mother-and-daughter duo, Shaz and Aria Kerebs.
Dressed in 25kg of firefighting gear, including breathing apparatus, Lydia climbed the 51 flights of steps in the Auckland Sky Tower, all with the aim of fundraising for Blood Cancer New Zealand.
Lydia dedicated her climb to Gloria, a seven-year-old with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
“She’s a member of our community [and] when I found out what she was going through, I reached out to mum and said, would you mind if I made her my official motivation for doing the stair climb?” Lydia said.
“And actually the day before the climb my best friend’s dad got diagnosed with blood cancer, so I was thinking of him as well.”
Lydia completed the challenge in just over 21 minutes, shaving three minutes and 20 seconds off her time from last year.
“The first time was a big shock to the system, just being in that [gear] with the breathing apparatus,” she said.
“I paced myself a little bit better this time, and just knew what to expect… Every time I started feeling like, why am I doing this? I just thought about Gloria – this is easy compared to what she’s going through.”
Time wasn’t the only thing Lydia shaved off in her fundraising efforts though.
A week prior to the challenge, she invited more than 70 people to her home for an additional fundraiser, pledging money for locks of her waist-length hair.
“My fundraising event was called Fleece You, Fleece Me (I take your money, you take my hair),” Lydia explained.
She pledged 10cm of her hair per $1000 raised. In the end, a total of 50cm was cut off, and sent to Freedom Wigs, an organisation which makes real hair wigs for cancer patients.
The first cut was made by Gloria.
“Gloria saved me from the buzz cut by opting for scissors, and then we could match [hairstyles].”
Attendees also donated toys and cash for Gloria’s family directly.
“We got $500 to give to [Gloria] on the night and that’s how much it costs for her to get a real hair wig.”
Between the stair challenge and her hair fundraiser, Lydia has now raised $7720 for Blood Cancer NZ. Her fundraising page will remain open until June 30.
Gloria’s mum, Martina, said her family was humbled and honoured by Lydia’s patronage.
“She’s amazing – the way that she has approached it and exceeded her goal, and her amazing fundraising event and climb,” Martina said.
“It brings me almost to tears because it’s a lot to go through.
“You can’t go over it and you can’t go under it. You just gotta go through it, and you can’t possibly even understand unless you really have to go through it. But the community support and Lydia’s events and actions are just mind-blowing.”
Martina said Gloria, who is now in her second year of treatment, has remained positive despite her health ordeals.
“It’s a daily dose of chemotherapy and pills… It’s a trauma for any child having to go through this. But she has a good spirit, she’s joyful and open to life and that’s huge.”
DETAILS: Donations can be made to Lydia until June 30; visit firefighterschallenge.org.nz/lydia-lester.
