A gun shearer who wanted to support mental health charity Movember but could not grow much of a moustache has raised thousands of dollars for the organisation in a staggering shearing feat.
Key points:
- A 23-year-old shore 830 sheep in nine hours to raise money for Movember
- High suicide rates in his native New Zealand inspired him to support the mental health charity
- He smashed his personal best and got close to a world record in the fundraising effort
New Zealander Luke Hillis, 23, shore 830 lambs in nine hours at a south west Victorian property on Saturday, smashing his personal best and giving the world record a nudge on the way.
His tally equated to a lamb shorn every 39 seconds, racking up tallies of 179, 160, 157 169 and 165.
His $4-per-sheep earnings from the day were donated to men’s mental health charity Movember — a cause close to his heart.
Fuelled by tragedy
Luke Hillis grew up in Southland, at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island, where suicide is a grim reality for young people.
“Growing up, personally, I lost about one mate a year in high school, so it was something quite close to the heart,” he said.
New Zealand has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the developed world — more than twice the average for member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Not known for being able to grow a solid moustache, Mr Hollis said he wanted another way to do his bit to support Movember.
“Obviously I couldn’t really grow the mo, so I couldn’t really play that part, but I knew I could make an impact in some other way,” he said.
“Shearing is cool, but if you can do something that is bigger than you and bigger than the shearing industry, it creates a bit more of a why.”
A near-record feat
Mr Hollis, who only started shearing in 2019, set a target of 600 lambs for the nine-hour day.
Despite months of training and gym work, it was was an ambitious target — given his previous best two-hour tally was 134 and his eight-hour best was 480.
But not long after Mr Hollis kicked his handpiece into gear at 6am on Saturday, it became clear he would blow that target away.
“I got a bit excited and took off and had 179 for the first run,” he said.
“When my crew said, ‘Hey, you’re on for an 800’, that’s when we had to call the farmer to get some more sheep in, or we would have run out.
“We thought 700 was a big push for me, but it kind of teaches that you never really know until you give it a good hack.”
His tally of 830 is not far shy of the world record, which belongs to Englishman Stuart Connor, who shore 872 lambs in nine hours during 2021.
Driven on by support crew
Mr Hollis said his support crew, which included his girlfriend, sisters from New Zealand, a masseuse and shearing mates, drove him on to shear faster than he had ever shorn.
“I had a really great crew around me who helped me in all areas and really backed me up on the day, and I just kind of had the handpiece and the sheep,” he said.
“In the last 30 minutes I was digging pretty deep and I realised that my struggle was only temporary and people who suffer with depression and other mental illnesses suffer a lot more than I was.
“When you’re struggling and filling up your sweat towel with sweat, you realise that it’s for something a lot bigger than yourself.”
A great industry to be in
Mr Hollis said the shearing industry offered great opportunities for young people, and challenged stereotypes about the need for a tertiary education to earn a high wage.
“I don’t know many jobs where you can come straight out of high school and earn that type of coin,” he said.
“Personally, I thought you had to go to university to get a six-figure income, but I’ve put a few of the engineers to shame.
“I love the competitiveness. It’s like working out and getting paid for it, and the more you put in, the more you get out.”
Mr Hollis said he had received plenty of messages from people also interested in shearing-themed fundraisers, and had plenty of ideas of his own.
“There will be plenty more fundraisers to come and plenty more ways I can impact other people outside the industry with my skill of shearing,” he said.
