I was able to participate at this year's Over the Edge event as the Site Safety Supervisor for Over the Edge. I was, admittedly, anxious leading up to the event. It would be two full days of rappelling, plus a day of Media rappels, training the Ropes Volunteers and rigging the building. The building is one of the taller buildings that we use and the tallest building for me as the lead technician. Between Edgers, Media, Rope Volunteers and OTE staff, we would see over 200 people rappel in that 3 day span. I added it up after the event; we actually had closer to 225 rappels. To translate that in a different way, we rappelled over 20 MILES of rope on this event. WOW! Topping that NO ONE backed down from the challenge, there were no incidents and, a supervisors dream, we finished on time! All in all, I could not have been more pleased with how our day went.
The MAW event in Austin was one of the first events I worked when I first started with Over the Edge. I believe it may have even been the first one for Make-A-Wish. Really busy, lots of additional activity surrounding the event, tons of attention, the live video feed, it was awesome. After that, when I was asked what a great event looks like, I always mentioned the Austin MAW event. It was a circus and I loved it, but that also meant that my expectations were high.
It was such a treat to come back to the event, several years later, and find that it was not only that cool, but better. I am so proud to have been a part of the largest Over the Edge event to date. Then, I add in my experience with some of the participants. Everyone did a phenomenal job. Between Wish Kid Katherine, conquering her fear of heights to rappel, the parents of current and former Wish Kids, the people who didn't have a personal connection, but knew the value of the cause, and all the fairies, super heroes and other costume wearers, I know that I met some of the best people in Austin.
Keep up the good work that you do, everyone you reach, Wish Kids, families, friends, and communities, benefit from your mission. I know the event will always be special to me.
Thank you for the chance to be there.
- Rebecca Land Segrest, Over the Edge Site Safety Supervisor