While others around the country are preparing to climb the 1103 steps of the landmark building in Auckland, Senior Firefighter Joshua Lee has created and is auctioning off a 1.47m mermaid sculpture to add to his fundraising effort.
SFF Lee has not completed the challenge since 2022 but said he was inspired to take part this year — for the fifth time — after his nephew was diagnosed with leukaemia.
‘‘He’s having a bit of a battle so I thought it was a good time to jump on board and do it again,’’ he told the Otago Daily Times.
The money raised from the Sky Tower challenge will be donated to Blood Cancer New Zealand.
SFF Lee decided to go even further than carrying 25kg of firefighting gear and breathing apparatus up the tower this weekend — he used his skills from his day job as a design engineer to create the sculpture.
‘‘We’ve done different things in the past with quizzes and stuff but I felt this year doing a sculpture is where my skills are best used.
‘‘It made sense to do what I’m good at and then auction it off.’’
The one-of-a-kind, handcrafted sculpture is listed on Trade Me with the highest bid at $8550 last evening.
Apex Engineering, the Oamaru company SFF Lee works for, sponsored the materials for the sculpture so all proceeds could be donated, he said.
Aside from his plan to auction the sculpture, SFF Lee had raised more than $1200 in donations.
‘‘My fundraising is tracking really well.
‘‘It feels worth it.’’
