By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
NARRE WARREN resident Nikki Sleep said she would happily stomp the MCG’s 7343 steps for the Leukaemia Foundation.
“If Seth (her son) can go through what he has with all his treatment, my team and I say we can stomp those stairs with a smile on our faces until the last step,” she said.
Ms Sleep is participating in the Stadium Stomp MCG with her team of eight, and said the event was very important to her.
“It’s not about how quick I can do it, it’s about raising that money, I’m not trying to beat anyone or be quicker. I’m about raising money to help find a cure for leukaemia,” Ms Sleep said.
Ms Sleeps’ son, Seth, has been fighting the blood disease for more than three years.
“Last year, my team and I raised more than $6300 through the Stomp challenge, and this year we are hoping to raise $10,000,” she said.
The fund-raiser is Australia’s longest consecutive stair climb and will be held at the MCG on Sunday 5 July.
Participants can choose to donate or raise money for a charity of their choice.
Ms Sleep said choosing a charity was always hard.
“How do you choose which charity? I decided that it has to go straight to the cure, if we didn’t have this illness, we wouldn’t have to have the other charities and even if it’s not cured, the amount of time going through treatment could be lessened.
“We would love it if one day it was just the matter of an injection to cure leukaemia,” Ms Sleep said.
The unique fitness challenge is a personal test of stamina and concentration, and participants can choose to tackle the half or full course.
This year, the mum of two will be climbing the full circuit.
“After last year, I could hardly move for a week, but I don’t mind doing it, helping to find a cure means everything to me,” she said.
To register for the full or half course visit www.stadiumstomp.com.au/MCG or to donate to Ms Sleep and her team’s cause visit Team Stomping for Seth on Facebook.
