CANNING Vale firefighter Tom Harper is Mr January in the 2018 Perth Firefighters Calendar, now available for purchase to raise funds for the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“Nothing is more humbling than to be able to give back to an organisation like Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH)Foundation, which is at the top of my list,” Mr Harper said.
“As a newborn I spent countless hours and days in PMH with asthma and just recently one of my newborn twins had a very complicated operation at the hospital so anything I can do to help PMH and the PCH Foundation is time well spent,” Mr Harper said.
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READ NOW“I had childhood asthma and grew out of it by about 16. But was very sick up to five years of age.
“I think a lot of football and athletics has helped and I’ve managed with a ventolin inhaler.
“As a young adult I decided it was never going to stop me from becoming a firefighter.
“As for affecting me at work, due to the asthma I only really use three quarters of my lungs capacity so I breath quicker and go through air a bit quicker in breathing apparatus.”
The calendars have raised more than $1 million for PMH’s burns unit over the years, foundation chief executive Denys Pearce said.
Calendars are available for $15 online at https://shop.pchf.org.au.
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