A rappelling event is coming to Chatham to raise money for the new Children’s Treatment Centre building in north Chatham.
On June 23, 100 people will be able to rappel down the side of the 10 storey Holiday Inn Express and Suites near Richmond St. and Keil Dr.
The rappelling company is called 'Over the Edge'. Regional Manager Jason McLoughlin says the event is safe and the company has never had an accident, injury, or death in nine years of operation.
"Always stare at the wall in front of you as you're going down. The wall is always going to be three feet in front of you. So, you have no concept of the height," says McLoughlin.
To participate as an "Edger", individuals need to raise $1,000, or $1,500 to attach a GoPro camera to their helmet and take back a copy of their experience. Edgers can build their own "Over the Edge" donation page to post, share or email to friends and family for easy fundraising.
The centre's foundation says it's the first time this event has been done in Chatham-Kent.
Visit https://otecwe.com/chatham/ to sign up or sponsor the event.
McLoughlin says there's nothing to worry about for those sitting on the fence.
"It's done all over the world. It's never had any accidents or even near accidents or anything like that. I work on ropes every single day all over the world. It's a very, very safe system," he says.
McLoughlin says the rappeling system is very safe and easy to control.
"There's so much engineering into them and there's so many safety features and stuff that it's impossible to scare yourself by descending too quickly or anything like that. There's panic features built into them and stuff," McLoughlin says.