A six-year-old boy has spent a day conquering Australia’s highest peak for a cause that is incredibly close to him and his family.
Ollie Finnane, accompanied by his cousins Finn Gibson, ten, and Ted O’Hare, eight, trekked to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko for a good cause: to raise money for the Torie Finnane Foundation, established in honour of Ollie’s late mother.
“The boys wanted to do something for the foundation,” Ollie’s dad Liam Finnane told 9news.com.au.
“So they set the goal of climbing Australia’s highest peak on Australia Day, and hoped to raise $5000 to $10,000 along the way.”
When they made it back to Thredbo on Thursday night, they discovered the figure was well over $20,000.
“There was no whinging and no sore feet,” Liam said.
Torie Finnane, Ollie’s mum, was a popular and respected midwife at the Orange Hospital, in the city of Orange in NSW’s central west.
In December 2020, while celebrating the birth of her third child Maisie and the family’s first night at home as a family of five, Torie began experiencing headaches.
Within just a few days, Torie had succumbed to bacterial meningitis, passing away in the very same hospital where she had assisted in the birth of so many babies.
Her death greatly affected the close-knit community, with Liam now caring for three children under five on his own.
With her family and friends wanting to honour her passion for healthcare, the Torie Finnane Foundation was established in December 2021 – a year after Torie’s passing.The foundation aims to provide the highest quality midwifery and nursing services in regional areas by purchasing much-needed equipment and providing training scholarships and placements.
Through the foundation, regional midwives and special care nurses will spend a month training and learning from experienced obstetricians in Sydney, before returning to regional areas to utilise their skills.
“Investing in nurses and midwives means we invest in patient safety and clinical care in our community,” Orange Hospital General Manager Catherine Nowlan told the ABC in December.
Ollie, Finn and Ted’s climb marks one of the first fundraising efforts for the foundation, with their climb announced on social media little over a month before it began.
“Look at these little legends! Meet Torie’s son Ollie Finnane (6), nephew Ted O’Hare (8) and nephew Finn Gibson (10),” a post on the foundation’s Instagram page reads.
“These pint sized explorers are going to tackle a 13km walk across the top of Mt Kosciuszko on Australia Day to honour Torie, with the aim to raise $10,000 for TFF.”
“We thought we can make a difference,” Liam said after the climb.
“Even on Kosciuszko, people saw the boys in their Torie Finnane Foundation shirts and were offering them cash halfway up the mountain.”
The foundation is still accepting donations, with the first nurse placements expected to start later this year.
Image: @toriefinnanefoundation (Instagram)
This article first appeared on Over60.