Able by Dylan Alcott

Author:Dylan Alcott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC Books
Published: 2018-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

My arms felt like they each weighed a ton but somehow I managed to get them over my head in triumph. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and tried to exhale the pain from my battered muscles. I was so done in I could barely speak.

Exhilaration battled exhaustion. After all, this had been a team effort, and so many people were still there when I finished. Special mention to Liz and Lucy Wilcox and my family, who all stayed the whole twenty-four hours with me, an unbelievable effort.

We knew that not everyone who wanted to donate had done so, and we kept donations open for another week. In the end we raised more than $105,000, not just reaching but exceeding my ambitious original goal. My heart was full of gratitude to everyone who’d been part of this incredible result. There were ongoing benefits in addition to the funds too, with Starlight and Variety each receiving promotion that would have cost more than $1 million if they’d had to pay for it.

To everyone who helped, thank you. The pain in my body eventually faded, but the knowledge of the difference we were able to make to the lives of kids by supporting the amazing work of the Starlight Foundation and Variety will last forever.

I vividly remember what it was like to spend weeks at a time in hospital with little or nothing to distract me from the pain and boredom. Now hospitals across Australia have a Starlight Express Room where kids can watch DVDs or play on the Xbox, PlayStation or Wii. They can join Captain Starlight in a musical jam session, have their face painted, watch a live magic show, make balloon animals and take their minds off their treatment.

The brilliant people at the Starlight Foundation have made it their mission to replace pain, fear and stress for kids in hospitals with fun, joy and laughter. The design of the rooms is based on scientific evidence that shows that, for kids, play is one powerful antidote to pain, fear and stress, and is essential in developing resilience, wellbeing and a sense of normality. Which happens to be how I’ve always viewed sport.

Variety also gives much-needed support, helping kids gain independence and freedom by providing financial support for walking frames, portable hoists and, just as they did for me, state-of-the-art wheelchairs. They provide in-home medical aids, including seizure alarms, and at schools they build all-ability playgrounds and provide transport for children in wheelchairs. I’m intensely proud and honoured to have contributed to this work.

When it came time to deliver the money, I had two large novelty cheques made – one for Variety and one for the Starlight Foundation, each for $52,500. I presented the Starlight cheque to a little girl named Melanie, who was in hospital being treated for leukaemia. She was too young to understand exactly what all those zeroes represented. But she knew that she and the other kids like her hadn’t been forgotten or overlooked, that there were people out there who cared and wanted to help.

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