A father and son from Auckland, New Zealand, recently participated in the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge in support of two cancer survivors from Chatsworth.
Blake Reichert of East Coast Bays Volunteer Fire Brigade took on the challenge for the first time and chose to do it in support of Croftdene cancer survivor, four-year-old Timothy Nagan. Little Timothy was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was two and a half years old.
Initially, he was ill with flu-like symptoms and his parents took him to various general practitioners who treated him for influenza. However, he would vomit out all the medication that he consumed. He lost weight rapidly and was not himself. As it was during the Covid pandemic, his family assumed he was Covid-positive and even ran a test which came back negative.
Timothy eventually started to look pale and had difficulty breathing. He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and doctors worked timeously to revive his drained-out body. Tests were run and a few days later, family members received news that the child has leukaemia.
Timothy spent two weeks in Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, unconscious and on a ventilator. Thankfully, he is now a strong little man who goes for regular chemotherapy to kill all the bad cells.
Blake said that he willingly took on the challenge because it raises money for a good cause. “The Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge is a great way to show support to people who are fighting cancer, it is also a great way to raise money to go towards cancer research. There was a lot of preparation before the climb such as cardio training and running up stairs in the firefighter gear. However, this year, $1.5 million was raised to go towards leukaemia and blood cancer research.”
Blake’s father, Craig Reichert who is also employed at East Coast Bays Volunteer Fire Brigade, dedicated his climb this year to former Chatsworth resident, five-year-old Esmae’ Denae Peters. Craig has completed the Firefighters Sky Tower Challenge for the past three years.
Beautiful Esmae was diagnosed with pre B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when she was three years old.
For seven weeks, her family battled to find the cause of her sudden illness. She was taken to different hospitals and multiple tests were run. She had a fever for 31 days and lost her ability to walk. She stopped eating and had blurry vision.
Esmae spent a month at RK Khan Hospital due to the seriousness of her case. She is now well and attends regular chemotherapy sessions at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.
Craig said: “I don’t only do the challenge for survivors but also for people who have lost the fight. Even though every year I try to find a new little warrior to do it for, I still carry my previous year’s person in my heart. I got in contact with Esmae’ Denae Peter’s mom, Magdalene Peters, through another family that sadly lost their little angel in 2022,” said Craig.
The Sky Tower Climb is a great event and is a brilliant way to raise funds to show support to those living with leukemia and blood cancer. The challenge entails firefighters from all over New Zealand climbing up 1 103 steps in full firefighting gear, weighing 25kg.
The father and son duo encouraged others to also take up such challenges to help make someone fighting a battle smile and know they are loved and have supporters behind them all the way.
