Stawell resident Corey Mifsud and his father Roger achieved a massive feat at the weekend, shearing 1542 sheep in 24 hours, surpassing their goal of 1500 sheep.
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The Mifsuds raised thousands of dollars to fight muscular dystrophy to support their friends, the Gillin family of Warrnambool, who lost their son last year Aaron to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Their 24-hour shear-a-thon concluded at 5pm on Saturday before a crowd of more than 100 cheering people with both Roger and Corey finishing the gruelling marathon effort with a flourish.
The two had shorn at a Warrnambool showgrounds pavilion for 20 hours, taking occasional breaks during the 24 hours to get through the long night and day.
Roger Mifsud, 52, said averaging 40 lambs an hour for a six hour stint had given them a lead that enabled them to meet their target and not be pegged back by slow patches.
He said he had “run out of gas” towards the end but was able to still muster a strong finish.
“We did it for the Gillins. They brought all of this together. It shows how much love these guys have in the community,” Roger Mifsud said.
The joined Chris Gillin, Aaron’s older brother who also has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and his parents Ash and Mandy for a hug after putting the 1542th lamb down the chute.
The shear-a-thon gained strong support from the shearing fraternity and wool industry with rouseabouts also working 24 hours to support the Mifsuds.
Roger Mifsud said the shear-a-thon had been an emotional experience.
“Every time I had a drink, Aaron was there,” he said.
Corey Mifsud, 30, said he doubted he could have done it without the incentive of doing something to fight muscular dystrophy that had taken Aaron Gillin.
He had doubted several times that he would be able to last the 24 hours but the decision to do it for Aaron stopped him from laying down, he said.
Father and son had a challenge to beat the other’s tally and Roger Mifsud won the bet, shearing 787 to Corey’s 755.
Corey said he had still achieved a goal to beat the tally that Roger set in a previous shear-a-thon, 636 in 20 hours.
Roger said he was really proud of his son, particularly of the way he had finished the marathon effort so strongly.
“We got into a rhythm,” he said.
Thousands of dollars were raised to fight muscular dystrophy through gold coin entry donations by the crowd that watched the spectacle and from the payments the Mifsuds were paid for shearing the lambs.
