Three young boys are preparing to climb Mount Kosciuszko early next year to help improve maternity services in regional New South Wales.
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Ted O'Hare, 8, from Wagga, Ollie Finnane, 6, from Orange and Finn Gibson, 10, from Sydney will march to the top of the mountain on Australia Day in a bid to raise $10,000 for the Torie Finnane Foundation.
Midwife Torie Finnane passed away in December last year, three days after the birth of her third child, due to a sudden case of bacterial meningitis.
Torie's brother Geoff O'Hare, husband Liam Finnane and other members of the family spent the following months discussing ways to honour her legacy.
This year they established the Torie Finnane Foundation, which aims to provide exchange opportunities for regionally-based midwives, nurses and special care nursery staff across the state while immortalising Torie's name.
"She worked with [Royal Prince Alfred Hospital] in Camperdown for [it] must have been about eight years," Mr O'Hare said.
"When you're working those hospitals as a midwife, you're exposed day in day out to the hardest, most complicated cases.
"When she moved to Orange in 2018 with Liam, she brought with her to the hospital all those skills she'd gained in that period of time, so [the foundation] was basically a reflection on all of that."
Upon hearing of the foundation, Mr O'Hare's son Ted wanted to do anything he could to contribute to the cause.
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Although the O'Hare family regularly visits the Thredbo alpines, they are yet to summit Mount Kosciuszko, igniting the idea for Ted to climb the mountain.
"I'm really proud of him to want to do something to help with the foundation, and to say that he wants to go up Mount Kosciuszko for Torie is just really special," Mr O'Hare said.
Ted will be joined by his cousins Finn and Ollie, Torie's eldest son, along with Mr O'Hare's support during the climb. The trio have managed to raise $3000 in three days since announcing their campaign on Monday.
Although Ted is unsure whether he'll make it to the top, Mr O'Hare is confident he has what it takes to summit the mountain.
"It's more so the dads that will be unfit," he said.
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