Blake Worrall-Thompson is the first to admit life can be “pretty cruisy” at Bondi beach.
But the Sydney personal trainer made sure the bushfire devastation in the Blue Mountains was the top priority for its beachside residents last Friday when he helped organise a fund-raiser for Emma Parade’s Evangeline Love.
“Things that we complain about are laughable in comparison. It’s good to have a reality check and help out where we can,” he said.
Sixty people took part in the Bootcamp 4 Bushfires event from 6-7am, raising more than $2000 for Mrs Love who lost her home and two-year-old ridgeback in the fires.
Mr Worrall-Thompson drove to Emma Parade after the bootcamp, along with event organisers Keri Kitay and Emma Esslemont, to hand over a cheque and other donated goods.
“We had no idea what to expect when we drove up so it’s definitely sunk in more now,” he said of the bushfire devastation.
Ms Kitay, a public relations director, said the beachfront community had rallied together to support Mrs Love’s plight when they heard about it on Sydney radio.
“We have a really good community of people that train together and we wanted to help out,” she said.
Mrs Love, who has lived in Emma Parade for 14 years, said she was touched that people outside the Blue Mountains were reaching out.
The bushfire loss was a cruel blow for the mother-of-two, whose husband Andrew died of cancer this April. She wasn’t home when the fires struck and the family dog was trapped in the blaze.
“She was my connection to my husband,” she said.
Other irreplaceable items, including a video of Mrs Love’s nine-year-old and 14-year-old sons saying goodbye to their father, were also lost in the blaze.
Mr Worrall-Thompson, the founder of personal training organisation Ministry of Wellbeing, knows their contribution is only small — but it is one that has connected Bondi to the Blue Mountains.
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