Dannevirke firefighters to tackle Sky Tower challenge in honour of friend

The Dannevirke Volunteer Fire Brigade is back with a bigger team and is getting ready to take on the 20th Sky Tower challenge for the annual blood cancer and leukaemia fundraiser.

Climbing the tower for the first time in Auckland this year is 18-year-old Toby Walker, who joined the Dannevirke brigade in 2021.

The team are being put through their paces to take on the Sky Tower climb in Auckland.

He dedicates his effort to 18-year-old RA (Te Rangatahi) Tawhiao, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2020 and diagnosed with bone marrow cancer at the start of 2023 and died in November.

Walker said he had a great ,entertaining energy as the pair had grown up playing rugby and attended primary and high school together.

“We got along really well.”

“He was always the life of the party at get-togethers and he would always make everyone smile and laugh.”

The firefighting Adie brothers Daniel and Jordan have done the challenge before and have also dedicated their climb to RA.

The five-person team last year managed to raise just over $16,000, contributing to the $1.5 million national total that was raised in 2023.

This year they had been joined by another five members making it a group of 10 who had been hard at work to raise money ahead of the challenge on May 18.

The group has been fundraising with a barbecue at the Dannevirke A&P Show, and had picked up 600 haybales and stacked them in a haybarn for a farmer who donated to their cause in return.

Team member and personal trainer Zane Gatchell will take on his second challenge and has been running boot camp-style training for the team twice a week, which he said they enjoyed - most of the time.

“Burpees isn’t their favourite word to hear, but it’s good fun.

“It is a good cause, and it’s good to give back more than what we already do. It’s nice to have a goal and raise money for something.”

Gatchell said the challenge of the Sky Tower climb was a “drawback” but he wanted to beat his previous time.

“I think it’s quite a powerful driver for some people when they have something they are doing it for a cause. I think its good for other people to see we are doing it for a reason.”

Gatchell said they were grateful to the community for the continued support of the “yearly group trying to raise money”.

The team are planning pop-up events including a community quiz night, with dates to be confirmed.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.