On Saturday October 20, local firefighters from Bellingen station Duncan Upsall, Daniel Finney and Lyle Condon will be taking a step up for Motor Neurone Disease, along with about 600 other firefighters from NSW, interstate and overseas.
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They will be running up the fire stairs of Sydney Tower Eye as quickly as possible, each wearing 20kg of firefighting gear.
It’s 98 floors and 1504 steps to the top of the Centrepoint Tower and the climb takes anywhere from 14 minutes (elite level) to roughly half an hour.
This annual event is supported by Fire and Rescue NSW and every dollar raised will directly support vital research at the Macquarie University MND Research Centre into a cure for MND.
MND, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease, is a progressive, terminal neurological disease.
It affects the nerve cells (neurones) controlling the muscles that enable us to move, speak, breathe and swallow, causing them to degenerate and die. A person’s senses and intellect are not affected.
In total, the Firefighters Climb for Motor Neurone Disease initiative has raised almost $1.5 million dollars in the last three years.
In 2015, Macquarie University and Fire and Rescue NSW launched the event with the aim of supporting vital MND research at Macquarie University. The inaugural climb saw 165 firefighters from throughout NSW ascend the Sydney Tower Eye wearing their full firefighting kit.
That year, they raised $180,000 and the total has been rising each successive year. In 2016 a further $510,990 was raised, and 2017 it was $630,000, thanks to overwhelming support from the firefighting community and the general public.
If you would like to support the Bellingen firies in their quest to raise funds to help find a cure for MND, you can donate online at
Janene Carey
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
