A COLLEGE lecturer is being suspended in a perspex box over Fermoy town square in Co Cork for the next two days as part of a daring fundraising effort for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The “Hoisted for Haiti” project will see Conor O’Kane (29) spend 48 hours in less than ideal conditions in a bid to raise €20,000.
Since yesterday afternoon he has been replicating the stunt carried out by US magician David Blaine seven years ago. The perspex box, which will be suspended a few metres over the town square, measures only 8ft by 4ft in width, and is 6ft high. It contains a sleeping bag, a book, a mobile phone and a chair.
The intention of the project, as part of the Haven initiative, is to send skilled tradespeople on a house-building mission to Haiti in October.
The lecturer will have access to water and, if the weather is particularly poor, he will have “the odd cup of tea”. The challenge got under way yesterday afternoon.
Mr O’Kane, who teaches business at NUI Galway, was involved in charity work in Haiti last October. Reflecting on his brief visit there, he explained that “it was a truly life-changing experience” and he “was particularly touched by the friendliness and pride of the local Haitians, despite the unbelievable poverty they lived in”.
The biggest challenge for him will be the lack of bathroom facilities in the box. “The toilet situation involves three elements – a Velcro curtain, a bucket and a rope. The man leading the event with me, John O’Callaghan, will be disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way!”
Donations can be made to collectors in Fermoy square over the weekend, or to the Hoisted for Haiti bank account at AIB. The bank sort code is 93-60-82 and the account number is 20098098. The challenge finishes tomorrow afternoon.