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Sept. 7, 2007
Superhero or lunatic?
Baila Lazarus is ready to risk her life for charity.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Faster than a speeding banana slug, more powerful
than a loco house cat, able to leap tall wicker baskets in a single
bound. Look! Up on that building! It's a fly! It's a window-washer!
It's ... Supergirl ... lady ... woman!"
And so begins the online donation profile of Independent
columnist Baila Lazarus, who is planning to take part in the Easter
Seals Drop Zone this month. A national fund-raising event for children
with disabilities, the zone challenges participants to raise a minimum
of $1,500 in support of Easter Seals for the chance to rappel down
a 20-storey office building. In Vancouver, that building will be
999 West Hastings St. (AXA Place).
Lazarus will be going to the Drop Zone as a representative of Business
in Vancouver, where she also works. As one of the event's sponsors,
BIV is allowed to send one person and Lazarus's name was drawn from
a hat.
Asked what possessed her to consider performing such a feat, Lazarus
said, "I had seen them doing it [rappelling down a building]
on The Amazing Race and always thought that was the best
part of their challenges. I've done rock-climbing, both indoor and
outdoor, and there is definitely a skill to rappelling properly,
so I wanted to see if I could apply it to going down a building.
Besides, when else would I ever have a chance to get dressed as
a superhero and climb down a building like Batman?"
And Lazarus is planning to dress for the occasion.
"I'll be wearing a Supergirl costume rented from Watts Costume
Rental on West 6th Avenue. There might be concerns that the cape
will get in the way of the harness, but we'll figure something out."
And there are other matters that have to be considered. Lazarus
said she's most worried about the weather.
"Winds are always strong the higher up you go," she explained,
"and, if it's raining, it could be a miserable experience.
I'm not sure if they cancel it in really wet weather because you
need to be able to have some traction on the building, which would
be impossible if it's wet. I also expect to get very nervous and
shaky, as I was when I went skydiving, so that could make it difficult
to hold the rope properly."
Lazarus added, "Actually, it does remind me of the time I went
skydiving – I think it was in 1999 – and it was on the
insistence of the Jewish National Fund shaliach at the time, Ran
Bagg. He had been a paratrooper in the Israeli army and insisted
that I go skydiving at least once in my life. His son came out to
visit from Israel and wanted to go, so he came with us, as did Ran's
wife. I was extraordinarily nervous but had a blast doing it. So
it taught me to accept the fear and go ahead and do it anyway. Ran,
of course, stayed on the ground."
Last year, more than 25 Lower Mainland "superheroes" raised
$47,000 for Easter Seals. As of press time, Lazarus had raised 22
per cent of the necessary $1,500. To help her reach her goal, visit
www.thedropzone.ca.
Once on the site, click on "Sponsor a superhero," then
"Vancouver" and you'll find Lazarus's name on the list.
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