Bunbury Big Freeze raises more than $30,000 for MND research

While Saturday’s Bunbury Big Freeze again captured the community’s imagination through humour and eye-catching costumes, the serious element of the event remained close to the surface. More than $30,000 was raised for Fight MND — a cause championing motor neurone disease research — which hopes to one day find a cure for this debilitating illness. Twenty community identities donned unique costumes and climbed to the top of a massive inflatable slide, before plunging into freezing water at the bottom. For event committee member Nay Pearce, who dressed up as Sydney Swans legend Warwick Capper, the event also had personal significance, having lost her mother to MND in 2019. “Until you become involved with MND, you don’t really know what it is or what it involves,” she said. “It’s a horrible disease with no treatment or cure. Neale Daniher’s Fight MND foundation are doing fantastically — getting traction with trials and hopefully leading towards both treatment and a cure. “That’s why it’s so important. “Unfortunately though, MND is something we’re hearing more and more of in the South West. I’m sure we’ve all heard about or known someone impacted by it. “You don’t have a chance (of survival) when you are diagnosed — all you have is hope. And when you’re living in the country, it’s even harder, because most of the resources are in Perth. “The sliders have all raised so much money. And it hasn’t been easy this year, with the rising cost of living.” Some of the more memorable costumes on the day included Forrest MHR Nola Marino in a Harvey Bulls guernsey, Carey Park league coach Frank Italiano as Ned Kelly, Bunbury Bulldogs legend Brad Blake as Pikachu, along with Dr Parthasarathy Ramesh as Darth Vader, who went down the slide with wife Sharon and son Rohan.