WA Young Achiever Awards: Hurt 2 Help founder Ethan Stirrat wins young leadership and people’s choice awards

The hyperlocal nature of Wheatbelt-founded charity Hurt to Help has resonated with thousands of people across WA. The charity’s founder, Muntadgin-raised Ethan Stirrat, took out both the young leadership and the people’s choice awards at the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards last week. The 25-year-old, who is a doctor at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, founded Hurt to Help with his mother Lynda Cornish two years ago to assist families facing severe hardship in regional WA. Stirratt said he felt grateful to the Hurt to Help community for their support, and had been “really amazed” by the response from people’s choice voters in particular. “We don’t do any of this for the awards… but it makes me feel incredibly lucky and thankful to the community we have built,” he said. “To win the people’s choice in particular was amazing, to see Hurt to Help has had a profound impact on people… to have so many people vote shows that what we are doing is making a real difference.” The organisation has raised more than $140,000 through different events including the Bin 2 Bin Marathon — a 42km run from the Mt Walker to Narembeen CBH bins in March. It has used the funds to provide eight, $20,000 cheques to regional families doing it tough between Karratha and Albany. A significant portion of these funds has been raised through Stirrat’s personal challenges, which push the limits of physical and mental endurance. He has undertaken gruelling ultramarathons, including the punishing “Marathon Murph”, an event that involved running two marathons and completing nearly 10,000 exercises in between, all while wearing a 9kg weighted vest. Stirrat said the premise of the charity was to encourage people to raise money for West Australians going through tough times by pushing themselves to the limit physically. Other athletes from across WA have also supported the charity by taking part in various challenges, including the Rottnest Swim and Ironman events. In announcing the award, judges said Dr Stirrat’s hands-on leadership and commitment to zero administrative costs ensured all funds went directly to families affected by illness, domestic violence, and loss.