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Going
going gone....CAPT Stephen Pearson, CO of NASPO, has his
hair and even his beard shaved as part of the inaugural
LEUT Craig King Memorial Leukaemia Fundraising Day held
at Albatross last month.
Photo by ABPH Neil Richards
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By Graham
Davis
Fifty
four personnel from HMAS Albatross have raised an astounding $7,500
for leukemia research by having their hair either shaved off or
brightly coloured.
The
men and women volunteered from the uniformed ranks, the Defence
civilian workforce and from the staffs of defence contractors
Raytheon and Sverdrup.
The
fundraiser was held on March 14 and for the Albatross volunteers
it had extra special significance.
It
had been dubbed the inaugural “Lieutenant Craig King Memorial
Leukaemia Fundraising Day” in remembrance of a former member.
It
was held in conjunction with the Leukaemia Foundation’s nation
“Shave for a Cure” day.
The
54 managed to entice pledges from friends, colleagues and bosses
totalling more than $7,500.
LEUT
King died on August 8 last year from acute myeloid leukaemia.
He served most of his postings as an Aviation Engineering Officer
(AEO) at Albatross between 1993 and 2001.
His
postings included AEO’s Course at TA/AVN, AEO training at
817 Squadron, Seahawk Software Production Engineer at AWSC, Flight
Support Engineer at 816 Squadron, Seahawk Fleet Logistics Manager
at NASPO and Weapons Electrical Aviation (WEA) Trials Officer
at AMAFTU.
Prior
to becoming an AEO, he was an Electrical Technical Systems (ETS)
sailor from 1984 to 1988 serving in Platypus, Darwin and Nirimba.
Craig
was diagnosed with leukaemia in April 1998 while with 816 Squadron.
After
gruelling treatment including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant,
during which he cheated death a number of times, he returned to
work at AMAFTU.
In
2001 he organised the inaugural HMAS Albatross World’s Greatest
Shave for a Cure. The participants included himself and the commanding
officers of 723, 805 and 817 Squadrons.
The
fundraiser was held again in 2002.
In
accordance with his wishes, as expressed by his wife, the commanding
officer of Albatross, CAPT Simon Cullen has established the “Lieutenant
Craig King Leukaemia Research Fund Raising Day” as an annual
event on the Albatross calendar.
This
year’s event incorporated the World’s Greatest Shave
for a Cure and in future years may entail some other activity.
The
March 14 event was carried out in the Junior Sailors Auditorium
and apart from the 54 volunteers attracted more than 100 onlookers.
In most instances it was a situation of “mate cutting mate’s
hair”.
Earlier
in the day staff from the Naval Aviation Systems Project Office
had bid for their favoured colleague to have his or her hair cut
or dyed.
