Cricketer Riley Brunsden wins national Young Sporting Spirit award
YOUNG cricketer Riley Brunsden looks like every 13-year-old but on the inside he is doing it tough — and the battles he faces just to play the sport he loves has earnt him national praise.
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YOUNG cricketer Riley Brunsden looks like every 13-year-old but on the inside he is doing it tough — and the battles he faces just to play the sport he loves has earnt him national praise.
Riley, who has cystic fibrosis, has been named the national winner of News Corp’s Young Sporting Spirit award.
“I was really surprised, but excited too,” the Penrith RSL Junior Cricket Club under-14s player said. “I love cricket, heaps.”
A star struck Riley was handed his trophy and $1000 cheque by the Sydney Thunder’s Lisa Griffith at the Blacktown International Sportspark on Friday.
Griffith said hearing Riley’s story “really puts things into perspective”.
“I feel grateful just for the health I have and the ability to play sport with ease every day, compared to someone like Riley who got out of his hospital bed (one day) to play cricket and takes 30 tablets a day — he is so inspiring,” she said.
Riley uses a nebuliser at least twice a day to help clear his airways.
Last week he was home in bed unwell but still had cricket on his mind.
“Sometimes it is hard to breathe. It happens when I am constantly running or batting but I just continue until the next drink break,” Riley said.
“When we go to cricket I always take one of my puffers.”
The Cranebrook teen started playing at the age of four, in an under-8s team, and has never looked back.
Mum Coralee Brunsden said: “The best way to learn what breathing is like for a person with cystic fibrosis is to put a straw in your mouth, block your nose and only breathe through the straw.”
Riley had never missed a match until recently, when he was admitted to hospital.
“That’s our life — it is constant hospital visits, changing of routine and treatments,” Mrs Brunsden said. “Every day Riley inspires us.
“If he says he is well enough to get out there and have a crack, that’s good enough for us.”
Riley, the youngest of five children, always wears the blue cricket cap he’s had for almost 10 years.
He hopes to one day play for Australia.
Star cricketer Pat Cummins gifted Riley some of his gear after reading his story in the newspaper.
“It is all massive on me but it is on my shelf right near where I sleep,” Riley said of the prized present.
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