When former Shortland Street doctors and longtime mates Will Hall and Ben Barrington signed up for a five-day adventure race to raise money for Cure Kids Fiji, there was only one option for their team name – Scrub Daddies!
They even borrowed some scrubs from Shorty’s costume department before discovering they’d be kitted out with official race tees and bandanas.
“It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the chance to do good things for great people who are in desperate need of basic services,” grins Will, 47, speaking to Woman’s Day upon his return to Aotearoa.
Nodding, Ben, 49, adds, “I had more laughs, cries, new experiences and emotions in those few days than I could count.”
Physical and mental challenges
The actor admits that tackling intense physical and mental challenges around Fiji, alongside 54 other participants, took him right back to his time on Celebrity Treasure Island.
In fact, he rang his co-star Polly Gillespie from a remote village on the second night to tell her.
Ben laughs, “I said, ‘You won’t guess where I am!’ Here I was on an island with a bandana tied around my head, about to do challenges with no idea what they were. It was 100% like being on CTI.”
Injured on the first day
Will even managed to injure his leg on the first day, just like Polly did on the show.
The Westside star shares, “I took the wrong shoes and reaggravated my torn calf on the very first run. I was gutted I couldn’t play touch rugby with the kids that night. “I don’t think the children have spent much time with strange-looking white people before as they were comparing us to characters they recognised from the movies. Anyone with a square jaw was called Captain America and they decided I was Eggman from Sonic The Hedgehog! Meeting the kids blew me away. They don’t have a lot but are so happy.”
It was on the remote island of Yanuya where the mission of Cure Kids Fiji’s Race to Survive became clear, shares Will.
“It’s not a place you see in the tourist guidebooks. We visited a small hospital where an amazing nurse, Vanisha Swartha, looks after an entire village of around 1300 people. She had no electricity and only a small generator to work with until Cure Kids Fiji installed solar, which has helped reduce the rate of rheumatic heart disease, the leading cause of death for children in Fiji.”
Helping to rebuild
Another meaningful part of the visit was helping rebuild a cyclone-damaged primary school. The warm welcome from the chief and villagers was unforgettable for Will and Ben, who later joined elders in a traditional kava ceremony.
Will grins, “They asked if I wanted a low-tide, high-tide or full-flood serving of kava. I said, ‘Give me a tsunami!’”
Afterwards, the performers spent a restless night sharing a double air mattress in a tiny two-man tent. Not the biggest fan of roughing it, Ben recalls, “We’re both big units, so when one of us moved, it was like being on a bouncy castle!”
On the fourth night, they swapped the campsite for a beachside mansion after their team won a critical challenge.
“Ben was so happy to have a hot shower and bed to sleep in,” laughs Will.
Trip highlights
Another highlight was a trip to Monuriki Island, where the Tom Hanks film Cast Away was filmed. In a nod to the movie, each team was given its own “Wilson” ball.
Ben tells, “As film guys, we were pretty amazed to go there. I felt all nostalgic and watched Cast Away the night after we got back.”
Between them, the three teams in the race, a mix of Kiwis, Fijians and Aussies who work mainly in the hotel industry, have raised more than $628,000 to help Cure Kids Fiji continue its life-saving work.
Will says his memories of the trip, especially the people, will stay with him forever.
He enthuses, “We had the best team from all walks of life and we bonded so well. People said to me before I went that this would be a life-changing experience
and now I know why.”
Ben adds, “There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the world at the moment, but floating around in the ocean with our team, having a laugh with the kids and working together to raise money affirmed the fact people are inherently decent – we all just want to help one another and be happy.”
To help the Scrub Daddies reach their fundraising goal, go to racetosurvive.curekids.org.nz.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
