Firefighters Lorry Kane (left), Maaka McKinney, Jimmy Rattray and Connor Doughty have been a familiar sight around Northland in recent days as they walk 280km from Waitangi to Auckland to raise money for the Leukaemia and Blood Cancer Foundation. Alongside other members of the New Zealand Firefighters Charitable Trust, they hope to get to the Big Smoke in time for the May 17 Sky Tower challenge in which firefighters from around the country run up the tower's 1103 steps while wearing full breathing apparatus.
When photographed here, the Birkenhead firefighters were on day two, a 42km slog from Kawakawa to Hikurangi, and suffering from blisters and sore shoulders caused by their 20kg loads. Leader Maaka McKinney said it was a case of "head down, arse up, and keep pushing forward".
All were wearing badges made by kids with leukaemia to keep them motivated and remind them that their suffering was only for a few days, unlike those for whom they were raising money.
