How ex-Bombers skipper Dyson Turner-Heppell and wife Kate found inspiration from a gutsy teen
Dyson and Kate Turner-Heppell have a 13-year-old bestie, Harrison. It was the H-Man’s bravery and positivity that inspired them to undertake their latest project.
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Former Essendon captain Dyson Turner-Heppell has credited an inspirational friendship with a gutsy teen fighting a rare and debilitating condition for helping him find purpose after AFL footy.
Dyson, who retired from professional football in August last year, is charting a new career in fashion spurred on by 13-year-old Harrison Pennicott, with he and his wife Kate launching the streetwear and athleisure label, Haych, in September.
The brand is very much fashion with a passion.
Its distinct goal is to make dreams come true for Pennicott, a footy mad kid battling the severe inflammatory auto-immune disease scleroderma, with whom the Turner-Heppells have forged an incredible bond over the past eight years.
Harrison, with his brave and relentlessly positive approach to life despite his cruel condition known as disabling pansclerotic morphea, has been a source of enormous inspiration for the couple, and the friendship and connection has had an unexpectedly profound effect on Dyson during his playing days and as he navigated the delicate shift into life outside of the AFL bubble.
“Everyone says it is awesome what you are doing (for Harrison), but we sort of see it the other way around – what he has done for us and the influence he has had on our lives is huge,” Dyson said.
Harrison has become such a part of the Turner-Heppell’s lives that he played an important role in their wedding in January.
“He was actually the ring bearer at our wedding,” Kate said.
“We had his whole family there, we love them all. His older brother Miller is really important to us too.
“I was never in a rush to get married. We have been together since we were 17. We felt we were pretty much married from the day we got together. Everyone thought I was waiting for a ring, but we were cruising.”
The couple hyphenated their surname to Turner-Heppell after tying the knot to acknowledge Kate’s maiden name.
The Dyson and Harrison, who he called H-man, story began in 2018.
“My grandmother, when I was younger, passed away from a condition called Scleroderma which is the same condition H-man has,” Dyson said.
“When I got drafted I became an ambassador for the Scleroderma Foundation and through the foundation a few years down the track I got introduced to little H-man.
“He was a mad Bombers fan and they thought the connection could be really nice, and that he would like to come out to the club.
“That was the first time I met him. He was five years old.
“He had been diagnosed when he was three, so he was actually the youngest person in the world to be diagnosed with Scleroderma and the only person in Australia with his type of Scleroderma.
“Meeting this kid, it was one of those moments, I was genuinely inspired by him after everything he had been through and was naturally drawn to try and build a relationship with him.
“Over the coming months we were hanging out quite a bit and Kate would come along as well. That is where KT first met Harrison, his brother Miller and their family.”
They say timing is everything and Dyson and Harrison’s crossing of paths came at a pivotal moment in the decorated footballer’s life.
“We had pretty much come out of the back of the supplements saga at Essendon, and meeting him at that time (in 2018), it was like the things I had been through in my life you could not even compare them to what he has gone through and he continues to go through day, in day out,” Dyson said.
“It is an unbelievable reality check. Moments where I feel like I am struggling or even throughout my (football) career where you are not performing well or the team is in a rut, you would have one conversation with H, or he comes out to the club with the family, and all of a sudden he is able to have this real impact on the people around him to make them laugh or smile or just bring a bit of lightness to your day.”
Moving forward to the end of 2024 and into 2025, the bond with Harrison has also been important for Dyson, 33, in finding fresh purpose after closing the book on his professional playing career.
“As much as I thought I had done enough work to not wrap my identity into me as a footballer, it was a really challenging period to navigate,” he said of adapting to life post retirement.
“Part of that was knowing I wanted to separate myself from the AFL environment and to try and have a crack at something outside the footy sphere, because it can be a pretty tight bubble at times.
“Now, eight months later, I am in a really good space and am enjoying this next chapter of life, but I am also keeping a link with the game by playing in the VFL at Port Melbourne.
“It is not a full cutting of ties with footy, but it has been a nice step back.”
The new focus for Dyson came with the launch of Haych, with the brand’s designs featuring graphics based on Harrison’s original artwork.
It took four years to bring the brand from a “simmering idea” of how to create opportunity and memory making moments for Harrison to fruition.
“We had got pretty close to the family and had been through their ups and downs and Dys and I had always wanted to start a clothing label, but it felt like every Tom, Dick and Harry was doing it, ” Kate said.
“We needed a point of difference and purpose and we started thinking about what we could do for H.
“He has outlived his prognosis. They only gave him a couple of years to live when he was diagnosed and he is now 13. It is crazy how he just keeps moving the goal posts for his life.”
The idea to incorporate Harrison’s artwork as the graphics on the clothing range, and name the brand after him, came via his love of drawing.
“Over the years, every time we would catch up, he would have a present for us of art work or a drawing,” Dyson said.
“Even when I would have injuries or be in hospital, he would send me little pictures and things like that. He has always loved his artwork.
“As he has got older he is very prone to Staph infections, which has meant he has had to have fingers amputated, even to the point now where he can’t really draw on paper, but he has come up with a way to draw on an iPad and make little tools where he can still be creative. He is incredible, a real trooper.”
Haych launched just weeks after Dyson called time on footy and proceeds from sales go towards giving Harrison and his family bucket list experiences.
“It was really nice having a purpose rolling out of footy and in that transition phase,” Dyson said.
“The timing ended up being incredible.
“It is not an easy transition phase post retirement and Kate sort of bore the brunt of all of that too, so being able to do this together – obviously starting a new business has its challenges, but it has been a lot of fun and very rewarding.”
Having no idea if there would be a market for their cuts, they were overwhelmed by the huge response to their first drop.
“It was insane,” Kate said.
“We were off camping and we had to go into a local pub to get some reception and charge our phones on the day we launched. We were selling out of product within a day, we were absolutely gobsmacked.
“We quickly realised that this was going to be a bit bigger than what we had anticipated.
“All our cuts are custom. We are not doing wholesale, everything is completely unique to us.”
Four collections have so far been released under the Haych brand with another soon to drop.
Several of Harrison’s catchphrases are discretely featured on certain designs within the range.
“We wanted on each piece a little thank you note from H. We were going to do it on the swing tag or the packaging then we decided to put it on the actual garment,” Kate said.
“That ‘thank you, love you, H’, really is his tag line,” Dyson added.
“It is all in his hand writing, his style.”
Harrison’s mum Leesa Pennicott said it was impossible to thank Dyson and Kate enough for their unwavering support and friendship.
“Dyson has been there for Harrison through some very tough times,” Leesa said.
“He and Kate come and visit him a lot in hospital.
“Harrison has had two bone marrow transplants (in 2018 and in 2019) and Dyson spent hours sitting with him in hospital.
“We were in hospital the first time for 30 days and the second time 75.
“It has been a journey. We spend many, many hours at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“In October he (Harrison) got really, really sick and we almost lost him.
“Dyson came in three times that week and just sat with him. It was a scary time.
“We don’t know how to ever thank them for what they have done.”
Collaborations so far have included creating a special hoodie in partnership with the AFL Players’ Association for this year’s draft picks.
Plans are in place to do the hoodie again for the next intake of draftees.
Coming soon is a special collaboration with Western Bulldogs favourite and artist, Cody Weightman.
Bucket list wishes that have so far been ticked off for Harrison include having a drive in a Lamborghini, flying in a private jet, riding in a helicopter, going to the F1 where he met Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, having an inner sanctum experience with the Melbourne Storm and the Melbourne Victory, and meeting Tones and I.
He is still very much a part of the wider Essendon Football Club family.
“Before last Christmas H really wanted to deliver presents to other kids with an illness, so we went to Very Special Kids and loaded them up with Christmas gifts. That is all coming from H. They are his ideas,” Kate said.
Based on the success of Haych, the Turner-Heppell’s have expanded their vision for the brand.
“The goal for this year is to broaden the scope and try and help some more kids and their families,” Kate said.
“If it is one-off Haych pieces featuring drawings by different kids that can contribute to their bucket list or help them out with what they need, I think that is our biggest goal. We would like to be able to impact as many people as we can.”
For Dyson, the future is fashion.
“It has gone from a passion project to let’s just give this the biggest crack that we can,” he said.
“This is our full time gig now and we have planned out through to Christmas and are already designing for Q1 next year.”
FAST FACTS:
What was your first job?
Dyson: Outside of mowing lawns at home, it was being an AFL player.
Kate: A waitress at a cafe. I was useless though so quickly got moved to the back in the kitchen washing dishes.
If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing?
Dyson: I’d like to say a builder, but I’m hopeless on the tools. So probably flipping houses with Kate, but not on the tools. I’ll leave that to her.
Kate: Likely flipping houses with Dyso. I have a love of, and brief background in, interior design.
Name five people dead or alive who you would invite to a dinner?
Dyson: Michael Jordan in his prime, Phil Jackson, Eckhart Tolle, Urzila Carlson and my wife, KT.
What book should everyone read?
Dyson: The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
Kate: Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.
If you could live anywhere in the world besides Melbourne, where would it be?
Dyson: Byron Bay.
What was your first concert?
Dyson: Watching Azza (little brother) dance around dressed as an angel in his kindergarten play.
Kate: Apart from the Hooley Dooleys, I think it was Big Day Out 2009.
Who inspires you?
Dyson: H-man
Kate: Anyone who’s just having a crack and creating a life they love.
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Dyson: Don’t change a thing, but maybe just relax a little. It’s not that serious.
Kate: Keep doing what makes you happy, as long as you’re doing no harm.
First car?
Dyson: A red Holden Commodore station wagon
Kate: a Subaru Liberty that I shared with my twin.
Current car?
Dyson: Range Rover Sport
Kate: Jeep Wrangler
Dream car?
Dyson: Range Rover Sport
Kate: Mercedes G63 or a vintage Ford Bronco
What is your biggest career regret?
Dyson: No regrets.
Kate: No regrets.
Best piece of advice you’ve received?
Dyson: Your life is not a reflection of what happens to you, but how you choose to respond to it.
Kate: Anything that is meant for you won’t pass you.
This year I’m most looking forward to …
Dyson: Building Haych The Label with KT and H-man, travel and exploring this new chapter post footy.
Kate: Building Haych The Label, impacting more people, travel and meeting all the new bubs due to arrive in my life this year. I love being an aunty.
The one thing I’d love to change about Victoria is …
Dyson: Get a bit more sun
Kate: The weather. Winter down here can be brutal.
The one thing I love most about Victoria is …
Dyson: Our natural surrounds, the coastlines and the unique character of all the different suburbs and towns. We’re lucky to get to experience such diverse cultures and awesome people.
Originally published as How ex-Bombers skipper Dyson Turner-Heppell and wife Kate found inspiration from a gutsy teen
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