Postponed till Friday 27 May

This week the Auckland Heart Stopper Challenge 2011 will be taking place in Takutai Square. This unique fundraising event involves teams of 4-6 people immersing themselves in an icy spa pool for five minutes, in exchange for sponsorship.

Money raised goes to Heart Children NZ, an organisation that provides practical and emotional support for the families of children born with heart conditions.

Around 450 open heart surgeries are performed on children every year in New Zealand, some of them newborn babies. During surgery a child’s chest cavity can be filled with an icy slush to slow the heart rate and metabolism, giving the surgeon a longer window of operating time.

Those hardy souls plunging into their own icy slush will be chilling in Takutai Square from 2pm – come on down, cheer them on and dig deep for the donation buckets!

See photos on Facebook here

Read more about the Heart Stopper Challenge