Steadfast’s Robert Kelly and Gallagher Australia head Sarah Lyons were among business leaders braving snakes, spiders and fire-walking as part of the CEO Dare to Cure event that raises funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute. (See pictures below).

Ms Lyons, who says she is actually terrified of snakes and fortunately has never come across any since moving from the UK to Australia, braved a “snake bath” in support of the cause.

“They gave me a taster and wrapped the python round my neck and I was visibly shaking and saying, ‘you’ve got to get this snake off me’,” she tells insuranceNEWS.com.au. “There was a bit of fake smiling and gritted teeth but I did it. I raised nearly $13,000.”

Mr Kelly dared to walk on fire and broken glass and, after previous experience crossing hot coals, says the glass part of the challenge proved more confronting.

“The guy says ‘walk lightly on it’ – how the hell do you do that?” Mr Kelly said. “The first time you put your foot down on a piece of broken glass, you think ‘why didn’t I do something else’.

“You look at the glass in front of you and try not to put your foot on a jagged piece sticking up but some glass sticks to the bottom of your feet.”

Mr Kelly finished the task without cut feet and raised about $130,000, which put him at the top of the fund-raising leaderboard.

The event overall has raised about $1.6 million for the institute, the only independent medical research centre in Australia dedicated wholly to curing childhood cancer.

Dares taken up by other business leaders included the Great Spider Challenge and an extreme climbing wall to test those with a fear of heights.