Community leaders abseiled down Building No.8 at the Canberra Hospital on Friday to raise funds for Can Give Day, including inspirational New Zealand cricket legend Chris Cairns, who suffered a heart attack and spinal stroke last year that left him paralysed and who is now battling bowel cancer.
Mr Cairns, 52, who otherwise is confined to a wheelchair, wore a robotic exoskeleton to help him walk up the final steps to the rooftop and then launch himself over the edge of the distinctive 18-metre-high building on Hospital Road.
The now long-time Canberran went down alongside Richard Rolfe, a big supporter of the Canberra Hospital Foundation, which is chaired by Richard's wife Deb.
Mr Cairns got a little caught on the No.8 on the building facade, but managed to extricate himself and get down to the bottom first. Not that anyone was racing, mind you.
"Going over the ledge was the hardest," he said.
Can Give Day is a 24-hour fundraising campaign for the Canberra Hospital Foundation, which provides everything from medical equipment to clinical trials to toys for all local hospitals, to improve the experience of the patient and their family.
Mr Cairns was an 11th-hour addition to the Big Wig Challenge which saw local identities abseil down the building and raise money for the foundation.
"Having been over the last year a intermittent user of the health system in Canberra, this is a great way of giving back and raising awareness and trying to reach that very lofty goal of $1 million to raise, which would be fantastic," he said.
"I just urge all the Canberra public to get out there and support it for such a great cause."
Canberra Health Services chief executive David Peffer also abseiled down the building, raising almost $12,000, and said the experience was "terrifying".
"When you're up there, the team sort of says, 'As you start getting over the edge and you lower yourself down, you really start to enjoy the experience'. I have to say that wasn't right at all. Right down to a metre off the ground, it was terrifying," he said.
"But it's a great cause and it's great to be a part of it."
Canberra Hospital Foundation chair Deb Rolfe also abseiled, raising also close to $12,000, and found it exhilarating.
"I felt at the age of 60 it was worth trying a new experience," she said.
Mrs Rolfe said it was an "unbelievable experience".
"A huge challenge but nothing like the challenge patients and their families experience every day in our hospitals," she said.
Mr Cairns, meanwhile, has just finished chemotherapy for his bowel cancer and will now concentrate on his rehabilitation.
"There's no guarantee of walking, but I'll just see where I end up," he said.
He was happy he inspired people but didn't want to "overplay" that.
"You have some really tough days," he said.
"And I think people who go through these type of things, it's important to give themselves that time to acknowledge that it is tough.
"So, find your purpose, find your reason. I'm a very lucky man to be here. I shouldn't be here.
"I think purpose is really, really important. But give yourself you bad days. And then just get up and do the best you can."
- You can still donate to Can Give Day here.
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