Meet Aaron Crook, Adelaide Dad and proud Adelaide Crows supporter who just tackled the biggest physical and mental challenge of his life - and he WON!!!
His act of pure resilience, grit and determination was in the name of youth mental health, raising funds for The Sebastian Foundation via our partner, Adelaide Crows Foundation.
In February, Aaron competed in the 6633 Arctic Ultra, a gruelling 660km race in northwest Canada, in freezing temperatures, to raise fund to help us bring Open Parachute to more South Australian kids.
“It’s far more a mental challenge than a physical one, within less than 24 hours of the race starting your body is already shot and you’re aching in pain,” Crook said.
“Sleep deprivation also poses very real challenges for your state of mind.
“The only thing that can get you through is a willingness to put one foot in front of the next and to keep running, and that’s all in your mind."
Sleeping for just 11 hours over seven days, experiencing hallucinations, and enduring painful frostnip in −42C temperatures, Crook surprised himself by coming first.
He said he had gained a "great deal of confidence" in the resilience of his body and mind from the experience, but his sleeping pattern remained disrupted.
The Sebastian Foundation's partnership with The Adelaide Crows Foundation currently supports more than 18,000 children across South Australia through the Open Parachute in-school mental health program.
Crook raised $26,500 through this incredible challenge to support our work. Every $15 raised will provide a primary or secondary student access to the program for an entire school year.
Aaron's six-year-old son James is a huge Crows fan and will be participating in the Open Parachute program at his primary school later this year.
“My son James has really found a personality through the Crows… as soon as he saw the Crows and how the game worked, he was absolutely hooked,” Crook said.
“Seeing the Club’s willingness to bring in kids to the Club, James has been to a number of training sessions and always comes out glowing.
“The Crows Foundation has been doing great work, and it seemed to me like the obvious thing to support (with the run) given the work is so valuable and how much of a Crows fan James is.”
The father of two said it was important to teach kids the resilience to overcome the challenges life throws at them.
“The Open Parachute program is so important to give kids tools they can use early on,” Crook said.
“I think how difficult it is now for children navigating those years heading into high school, with social media too which was never around when I was a kid, I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be navigating those emotions, given the emergence of these new challenges.
“So, if we can give them the skills and resources to prepare them and tackle these issues they come across, that can really help them get through school and also help them become great young adults.”
Thank you Aaron Crook for your incredible contribution!