Port Adelaide star Travis Boak supporting Childhood Cancer Association to help raise $1 million for sick kids

DRAWING inspiration from his late dad Roger, who lost his battle with cancer, Port Adelaide skipper captain Travis Boak has a very big aim — to help the Childhood Cancer Association raise $1 million. Here’s why.

• Power vs. the pies — why Travis Boak’s got pie in his face

DRAWING inspiration from his late dad Roger who lost his battle with cancer, Port Adelaide Football Club’s captain Travis Boak explains the reason why he is passionately supporting the Childhood Cancer Association and its latest aim to raise $1 million to help kids and families fighting the disease.

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A LETTER penned to Port Adelaide Football Club skipper Travis Boak by a young boy who battled and fought cancer means a lot for a bloke who is doing his bit to help make a difference.

“When he use (sic) to visit me in hospital, it made me feel not sick,” nine-year-old Ryan Lane-Ellis wrote to his idol.

“He is a specil (sic) friend to me and a good mentor for my football.

“Thank you Travis.”

Boak and Ryan, of Willaston, first met in 2011, through Boak’s regular work as an ambassador for the Childhood Cancer Association, a non-for-profit organisation which supports children and their families living with cancer.

It was just one day after Ryan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

“He (Ryan) was pretty crook and he’d just been diagnosed — we’ve had that relationship going on for about five years and now Ryan’s in remission,” Boak told The Advertiser.

“They’re the positive stories that are just so good to hear — the kids that can fight that.

Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak with Ryan Lane-Ellis, 9, at Alberton Oval. Picture: Matt Turner

“I was about four years into my career and I wanted to get involved in something to do with cancer because we went through it as a family and it was one of the hardest periods of my life.

“My reason for helping out is I wanted to go in there and help put a smile on a kid’s face whether it’s for five minutes or ten minutes and just take them away from the chemotherapy that they’re going through or the surgery they’ve just had and help them try and forget the seriousness of it.”

Boak is helping spearhead the Childhood Cancer Association’s biggest fundraiser since the organisation started in 1982, with the aim of raising $1 million between now and April 30.

The Ultimate Pie Challenge, launched yesterday, is like the Ice Bucket Challenge — but with “pies”.

It’s asking people to accept the challenge of having a pie (a paper plate with either whipped cream or shaving cream) shmooshed in their face. People are then encouraged to post a video of it, pass on the challenge to three friends and then donate online.

Organisers hope the initiative will go viral and get the attention of celebrities as big as Oprah and Barack Obama.

Travis Boak with his father Roger and sister Sarah.

Ryan Lane-Ellis with Travis Boak in 2011, on their first meeting, when Ryan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Boak was compelled to volunteer for the association after his family’s own tragic loss following the death of his dad Roger, who died in 2005 aged 48 just 18 months after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

“Going to the hospital constantly and being there, I know how hard it was as a family and how sickening it was,” Boak said.

Not long after his dad’s death, the fresh-faced youngster was drafted to Port Adelaide and since then, he’s grown from promising footy star to captain and transformed from teenager to young man.

Even today, Boak still ensures his dad is with him every time he steps out onto the football field.

“I look up at the sky and in a way just tell him we’re going out to play a game of footy,” Boak said.

“It’s something I’ve always done so I know that he’s always there with me.

“People who have lost a parent or someone close, once you go through it, you understand that they’re still there with you — that’s the reason why I do it.”

Despite his hectic schedule between football games, training and meetings, Boak manages to find time to visit sick kids every fortnight at The Michael Rice Centre for Haematology and Oncology based at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The letter Ryan wrote to Boak.

“The work they (the Childhood Cancer Association) do is incredible — the hands on help they’ve given so many families and kids with limited resources and funding, I wanted to give back and help their journey on helping kids and families,” Boak said.

He admits he gets a lot out of his time with the kids.

“They’re all so positive and strong — that’s the one thing that really stands out for me (is) how strong these kids are,” he said.

“I feel better walking out of the hospital then I did going in because what the kids have given back to me.

“I go in there to help them but in a way they’ve helped me.”

Childhood Cancer Association chief executive officer Cath O’Loughlin said Boak’s support was invaluable.

“Travis is an absolute legend,” she said.

“He’s incredibly generous with his time ... all the feedback we get from the families and hospital staff is that he literally brightens up their day — the effect is right through the ward.

“He’s got an ability to relate to people who are going through an extremely difficult time — that’s why he’s so successful in brightening up that day because he can relate to what they’re going through.”

Ms O’Loughlin urged people to take part in the Ultimate Pie Challenge and donate.

Today, the association provides a range of services to almost 400 families.

“That includes providing wheelchairs and accommodation for country families and counselling for children who have been diagnosed as well as siblings, parents and grandparents,” she said.

“There’s no limits to this (and) we would hope that the challenge is taken up right across Australia and very easily across the world through social media.

“We want to raise awareness of childhood cancer but this is ultimately a fundraising opportunity so we can continue to deliver vital services to children living with cancer and their families.”

For more information about the Ultimate Pie Challenge or Childhood Cancer Association visit www.UltimatePieChallenge.org.au to donate or www.childhoodcancer.asn.au