Eagles raise $11k for HeartKids
On Saturday 15 July the Eagles held a heart-warming Heroes for HeartKids day at Nicholls as we took on the Vikings across the grades.
HeartKids is the only national not-for-profit organisation solely focused on supporting and advocating for all people impacted by childhood heart disease, one of the largest causes of infant death in Australia.
The inspiration behind the day was young Salem (son of clubman Ryan Cantwell), who was born with congenital heart disease in 2021.
Just before Salem turned one he underwent open heart surgery at The Children’s Hospital in Westmead. This meant taking time off work to travel for interstate appointments from Canberra to Sydney, frequent sick days and late nights in emergency.
Salem and his family’s fight continues with new daily challenges, some bigger than others. But they wouldn’t be able to fight without the unbelievable support of HeartKids.
“HeartKids became our family, introducing us to other families and helping us navigate our new normal. We have been showered with love and support and our support workers are always available for a chat and a hug when times have been tough,” says mum Ryshell.
With the support of our incredible Eagles family, including corporate donors, the Eagles have raised $11,000 for HeartKids. This includes donations, raffle tickets, corporate contributions and payments directly to the HeartKids website.
Eagles President Trent Pollard says this is an incredible show of how strong the Eagles family is.
“When one of our own is doing it tough, we rally” he says.
“We’ve known about some of the challenges Ryan and Ryshell have faced in recent times, and it wasn’t until Ryan reached out to let us know that HeartKids is a charity that have helped them, we jumped at the chance to help”
“Congenital Heart Disease is not a well-known thing, and HeartKids is an incredible charity that we didn’t know of until we heard what they’ve done for the Cantwell family”
“This event was about raising awareness and a little bit of funds to acknowledge the incredible support HeartKids provided to one of our own, but the response has been overwhelming for all of us – I think we’re all in shock over how big the day was and how much was raised”
The incredible result was thanks to the support of local businesses including:
- TAT Building Solutions
- Momentum Construction
- Vectiq
- Ainslie Football and Social Club
- Sakari Concrete
- Canberra Sports Physiotherapy
- Jayzie Photography
You can still donate at: https://www.hero4heartkids.org.au/my-fundraising/601/-be-a-hero-for-salem
