Auctioneer Tiny Holly fights back from losing both legs to help raise $300,000 at Midwest charity gala

WA auctioneer Tiny Holly returned home to Geraldton for his 14th Midwest Charity Begins at Home gala dinner last weekend, as the charity icon battles back from losing both legs in the past two years. Mr Holly suffered a shock health scare in August this year when he noticed noticed a “redness” on his left foot which quickly became swollen and infected, and he was forced to have his left leg amputated. The decision came just two years after he asked doctors to amputate his right leg below the knee in April 2020. Mr Holly had already lost several toes from his right foot when a serious infection had spread from a blister after one of them had been badly sunburnt. He believes his problems may have stemmed from issues related to type 2 diabetes. Born and raised in Geraldton, Mr Holly has helped raise $35 million through auctions at some of the State’s most high-profile events and is determined to not let this latest setback stop him. “When I’ve raised $35m for charity, it becomes a drug, good or bad, it’s what I live for, that and my family. I’m buggered without either,” he said. “So it doesn’t matter whether I do it from a wheelchair, or, when I’m standing up on my good legs. “Everyone says I’ve worked hard to get good figures but I’ve only got to count and put a few words in between.” Mr Holly made the trip up from Fiona Stanley Hospital to attend Saturday night’s MWCBHA charity gala dinner, for which he helped raise $300,000. In a normal year, the charismatic auctioneer said he does around 85 charity balls across Western Australia including the Telethon Ball. He even organises his diary for the year around MWCBHA gala, such is the professionalism of the team behind the event. “It’s quite humbling to be apart of it. The girls and guys worked so hard for the 12 months to organise this ball. . . And it’s from the heart, so it’s not a job for them, it’s a hobby and they do it so well,” Mr Holly said. Mr Holly described it as “a ball like no other” which is up there with some of the best in Perth atmosphere-wise. “The energy is second to none really, there’s 400 people there and from the minute they walk up to the outside pre-dinner drinks it’s a buzz, it really is,” he said. “Everyone’s there for the right reasons, no one’s there to get a bargain or anything, they just want to help out as much as they can, so right from the word go the silent auctions were very good.” While Mr Holly’s recovery in Fiona Stanley Hospital continued, he said nothing could stop him from auctioneering. “The best therapy I could have is auctioneering, even if it’s in my wheelchair it’s my passion. That’s everything for me, I wanted to be an auctioneer since I was 11 years. I’m doing the job I wanted to do so I can never complain,” he said. “I’m doing one job and it’s my passion, it’s my hobby, it’s everything.”.