Real life Lolly snake in hand and special T-shirts on, Ollie and Elke Finnane were on a mission. The siblings faced a 13-kilometre walk up Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest peak.
But scaling the summit wouldn’t be the biggest challenge they’ve faced. Ollie, 8, and Elke, 5, were climbing Kosciuszko in memory of their mum Torie, who died tragically in 2020 from bacterial meningitis.
Trekking alongside 125 friends and family in January 2023, their dad Liam struggled to fight back tears.
“It was an emotional day because, although I was proud of what we were doing, it was a harsh reminder of why we were doing it,” Liam explains.
From Orange, NSW, the family’s world turned upside down in December 2020, when Torie, 34, suddenly passed away just three days after…
