A 23-YEAR-OLD shearer had a big day at the ‘office’ last weekend, shearing 830 lambs in a marathon effort for ‘Movember’ to raise funds and awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide.
The current world record for shearing lambs in a nine-hour day is 881, (902 unofficial).
Luke Hillis set to work at 6am at a property near Hawkesdale last Saturday, getting to over 800 at 5pm and not stopping until half an hour later to the cheers of a sizeable onlooking crowd.
With his first two run tallies for the day at 179 and 160, he said he started to notice he was doing it harder during the third run (157), before having an hour break.
“That run was starting to get pretty hard,” he said.
“Then we had the hour break, then a really good run (169). It was just that last run (165) – I really felt the cramp.”
With a masseuse on hand and plenty of family support too, he was able to make it through.
“I got a rub down every run,” Luke said.
“I had a shower after every run too – to keep the muscles warm and fresh.”
Luke said the background to the effort was his own youth growing up in New Zealand and witnessing the prevalence and devastation of teen suicide.
“I’ve seen a lot of it through high school,” he said.
“I lost a lot of mates through it.
“Even in the shearing industry there’s been two shearers that have taken their lives. It seems to be a constant battle with many men. I really wanted to put money towards them.”
For his effort, Luke said he paid a physical price afterwards, with his body taking a while to get back to normal.
“I couldn’t eat for about an hour and a half,” he said.
“I sat in the chair pretty quiet for a while. They gave me a fizzy drink, so that brought me back to life!”
If you need support call: Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978.
