Firefighters' 'cringey' photoshoot goes viral for a good cause

What started as a throwaway comment has seen Invercargill Airport Crew Chief Corey Diack and Senior Firefighter Jed Martin go semi-viral. 

The pair is taking on Saturday's Sky Tower Challenge in an effort to raise money for Blood Cancer New Zealand.

They’ll scale 1,103 steps wearing full kit, which can weigh up to 25 kilograms - so going the extra mile was a no-brainer. 

For Corey and Jed, that meant getting vulnerable in front of the camera for a friendly, ‘cringe-worthy’, and 80s-inspired photoshoot. 

The pair told rova there were mixed feelings about the whole shebang. 

“I haven't been able to look Jed in the eye since that first shoot,” joked Corey, while Jed owned up to feeling ‘really comfortable.’

The duo has raised over $6000 since it went live on social media.

“We wanted to do something that would actually grab people’s attention,” said Corey. 

“There’s a lot of great causes out there, so we figured if we could make people laugh, we might also encourage them to get behind us.”

Jed admitted to feeling nervous about the challenge, which he’s competing in for the third time. But he believes the job is all about helping out in dark times.

“If we can shed a little bit of light, make things a little easier, and I don't know, even give a laugh here and there, that all helps.” 

“Corey's a bit of a class clown, so he needed some sort of adult supervision - hence why I'm going with him,” he added.

Over 1,100 firefighters have signed up to the challenge, some from as far as the USA.

Auckland International Airport Crew Chief Tony Scott is among them. He brought the challenge to New Zealand 22 years ago.

“It's like planting a little tiny plant, and it turning into a huge tree, it's just so humbling,” he said.

“Twelve years ago, to hit a million dollars, and then last year to hit 2 million, and now to surpass that by over $200,000… I never thought it would ever get to what it has.”

He got the idea at a similar event in Seattle and has been competing ever since.

“The key to climbing stairs is not to go out too quickly and not to speed up, but to hold a really good pace and to have a really good game plan.”

For perspective, it’s 200 metres of vertical height. The current record is set at just over eight minutes. 

In a statement, Blood Cancer NZ CEO Tim Edmonds said he’s incredibly grateful for everyone who has played a part in surpassing this year’s fundraising goal of two million.

“It means that we are able to extend the support we provide for more than 3,000 patients each year while also accelerating research to improve outcomes for the 1 in 18 New Zealanders that will be diagnosed with a blood cancer in their lifetime,” he said. 

The event is being livestreamed on Saturday, 23rd May, here. It all kicks off at 8am.