Wiseberry Foundation Charity Dinner
25 August 2017
The Wiseberry Foundation endorses the belief that to be grateful means to help the people around us, starting from within our communities. We have seen first-hand how the smallest act of kindness can make the largest difference in someone’s life.
With this in mind, our initiative for 2017 was to hold a charity dinner on the 25th of August at the Castle Hill RSL fundraising for four special families. More specifically, we raised funds for Bobbi Jo, Tristan, Nicole & Reagan, Hank & Billy, whose stories can be found below.
Alongside an exciting night of auctions, raffles, entertainment and a 3 course dinner, this special event attracted over 300 donations from our generous sponsors, with all tickets sold out prior to the night.
Total Raised:
$112,205
Bobbi Jo – 11 Years Old
Little Bobbi Jo was diagnosed shortly after birth with Rett Syndrome, a neurological condition affecting speech, motor, and development. There is no cure. Her condition is progressively deteriorating and she is often plagued by ongoing medical complications. She needs 24 hour care and assistance.
Bobbi suffers seizures, osteoporosis, scoliosis, severe reflux, constipation and sleep apnoea. She will never walk or talk but communicates with her smile and eye gaze.
Bobbi takes 11 different medications twice a day. Due to various infections, she is often hospitalised for extended periods of time, where she is fed via a Gastrostomy and Jejunostomy tube.
Bobbi’s 3 siblings are simply amazing! They help Bobbi as much as possible, giving her medication, milk feeds, changing and dressing her, taking her for walks in her wheelchair, singing her songs, playing games and also helping with massage therapy.
Bobbi’s parents try to provide her with as many opportunities in life as any other child. Bobbi attends St Lucy’s Wahroonga, a special school for disabled children. She also participates in a horse riding program run by RDA (Riding for the Disabled) at Somersby. In Summer Bobbi goes for a dip in pools whilst being held by an adult. In Winter she is able to go bike riding with the help of an adult whilst being strapped in.
Bobbi is an amazing little girl, who despite everything she goes through, still manages to smile and laugh.
“We are hoping that one day scientists will find a cure for this horrible syndrome, but for now bobbi is our ‘Angel with a broken wing’” – Bobbi’s family
. . .
Tristan – 12 Years Old
Tristan had an accident some 5 years ago involving a ride-on lawnmower, resulting in the loss of one leg.
Tristan needs a new prosthetic leg 3 to 4 times a year as he continuously grows. He also has ongoing medical needs associated with the loss of his leg.
Tristan also attends regular visits with his surgeon to monitor his stump. In the coming future he will require further surgery to cap his stump so that the tip of the bone is not growing in a point.
At the moment, Tristan does not have a variety of feet to choose from but as he gets older he will require a foot with better flexibility and suspension which will be quite costly.
Tristan is a bright individual who aspires to one day compete in Para-snowboarding. He is a member of the Disabled Wintersport Association (DWA) who run snowboarding camps. He is currently too young to compete but trains with an instructor who works closely with DWA. When snowboarding, he uses his everyday leg but will of course need a special snowboarding leg in the future.
Hopefully one day Tristan will represent Australia in Para-snowboarding!
.
.
Nicole & Reagan
Nicole is a 27 year old quadriplegic who had a baby boy 6 months ago, named Reagan.
At the age of 18, Nicole was a passenger in a car that nose-dived off a sand dune and flipped, leaving her with a broken neck and no movement in her body below her neck.
At the time of the accident, Nicole was underway with a full-time traineeship at a childcare centre with hopes of one day becoming a teacher.
Nicole’s dreams also included travelling the world, getting married and becoming a mother. After the accident, Nicole felt like this dream was no longer possible.
After 13 months and 5 rounds of assisted contraception, Nicole was finally able to make her life-long dream come true.
While she isn’t able to hold, feed or change her baby herself, Nicole feels like the luckiest person alive, as baby Reagan is the greatest gift of all.
With the support from her family and an unbreakable spirit behind her, Nicole is determined to be the best possible mother to Reagan that she can.
.
.
Hank & Billy
Hank and Billy are two young boys aged 8 and 4 who only recently lost their mother to a very aggressive cancer.
The boys are both full of energy and love their sports.
Hank dreams of one day playing for the Parramatta Eels. He loves to play soccer, and is a champion in division 1. He also enjoys playing rugby league and riding his bike and scooter.
Billy is obsessed with super man, and thinks he’s Clark Kent. Billy shares a love for the Parramatta Eels, cars and riding his bike and scooter.
Since the death of their mother, Hank and Billy have both been very distressed, crying at night and calling out for mum. They miss her dearly, and are finding it difficult to adjust to life without her.
As the boys are growing each and every day, dad is working hard to give them the best possible life he can. As a father, there is nothing he wants more than to see his boys grow up happy and healthy.
Hank and Billy are in need of stability, routine and home assistance.