WATCH: Hundreds of people gathered in Vancouver today, to climb one of the city’s tallest buildings for a good cause. Nadia Stewart reports.
Hundreds took on the BC Lung Association’s 48-Storey Challenge, climbing stairs in an effort to raise money for lung research.
The annual event was held at a downtown Vancouver hotel Sunday morning. Among the many climbers was Stephanie Dilling from Kamloops, who says doing the stair climb was her way of celebrating six years of living a smoke-free life.
“I started smoking when I was 12 and I smoked for 12 years. That whole time, I knew it was bad but it took just wanting a healthier life to finally decide to quit,” says Dilling.
Dozens of firefighters from across the lower mainland also took part, climbing all 48 flights wearing their firefighting gear – an extra 34 kilograms worth of weight.
“It feels like it won’t stop. It feels like you’re never going to get to the end,” says Dan Eklund, a firefighter and event organizer with the Vancouver Firefighters Charitable Society.
Personalized cancer care: Treating the ‘new face’ of lung cancer in Canada
Eklund says the climb is grueling for the first responders, but rewarding as well. He says it gives them an opportunity to showcase just how challenging their job is.
“There are very few ways in the public forum that we can display our job in a very unique way and this is one of them where we can show the public–being dressed up in all of our gear, doing the stairs–something that we do in our day-to-day job, it’s a good way for the public to see that,” says Eklund.
More than fifty thousand dollars was raised at this year’s event. All of the money will be put towards lung research, education, patient support and advocacy programs.
“One in 5 British Columbians suffer from some kind of lung disease,” says Chris Lam, Development Manager with the BC Lung Association.
“That’s a lot of people, that’s probably someone you know very near and dear to your heart.”
Comments