Members of the Eckville Fire Department recently competed in the Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge 2017 in Calgary. The International event invites 500 fighters from across North America to climb 54 stories in full gear,including air tanks and has many celebrity supporters including TSN analyst Darren Dreger.
“This is the third year they are holding it,” Firefighter John Phillips told the Eckville Echo before the event. “It’s an event put together in Calgary to raise funds for Wellspring Calgary which is an institution that helps people who are living with cancer. It’s less on the research side and more about making life more comfortable for those people who are living with it.”
Phillips and his crew surpassed their group fundraising goal of $800 and the event itself raised over $344,000 for Wellspring Calgary. Being able to help those living with cancer is very important to Phillips and his crew.
“A lot of firefighters develop cancer due to environments they work in. You can’t find someone who doesn’t have a relation to someone with cancer,” Phillips said, adding that his crew stuck together and pushed each other to the end of the climb.
“We climbed in honour of one of our firefighter’s mother who passed,” Phillips explained.
The energy at the event was palpable, according to Phillips, and he described the feeling of being around so many firefighters as excellent.
“The energy could be felt,” he said. “Everyone was waiting to start their climb and getting amped up, or were cheering those who were coming down from the climb.”
If you would like more information about the climb, you can visit calgarystairclimb.com.
todd.vaughan@sylvanlakenews.com