A white-knuckle ride in one of the nation’s biggest boom lifts has helped Warrnambool’s Chris Dowling raise about $7000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
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Mr Dowling took on his fear of heights in the Saturday morning fund-raiser aboard South Coast Forklifts’ new 60-metre machine.
He admits he concentrated on the view to help keep him calm as the boom lift (similar to a cherry picker) raised him into the sky.
Mr Dowling was challenged to head up in the equipment after commenting on South Coast Forklifts’ Facebook page about the new purchase.
A crowd of about 50 people gathered to watch the ride, which took about 15 minutes, including a surprise 360-degree rotation at the top to raise extra dollars for the cause.
South Coast Forklifts hire controller Pete Smith said members of the public would also pay to head up in the lift to take photos and add to the fund-raising total.
“We’ve had a lot of donations and they’re still coming in,” Mr Smith said.
“We’re also really grateful to the Lions club for catering and the doughnut and coffee people for coming out as well.”
Mr Smith said the boom lift, the only one of its kind in southern Australia outside of Melbourne, was already gaining plenty of interest among local companies keen to use it on big projects including wind farms and milk factories.
