Former Collingwood AFL player Jason Cloke opens up about the family health battle that led his shift to the Gold Coast
Former Collingwood AFL player Jason Cloke has revealed his youngest son’s illness is behind the family’s move to the Gold Coast as he plots a way to shine a light on the relatively unknown condition.
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FORMER Collingwood AFL player Jason Cloke has revealed his youngest son’s illness is behind the family’s move to the Gold Coast as he plots a way to shine a light on the relatively unknown condition.
The Cloke family is nearly a year into their move to Queensland from Victoria and are already convinced it was the right decision for son Lenny, 4.
Lenny was born with oesophageal atresia and trachea-oesophageal fistula, referred to as TOF for short.
Basically, it means his oesophagus didn’t connect to his throat when he was born.
It changed the Clokes’ life.
With two healthy boys already in the world, their lives were turned upside down.
“It was pretty hard,” Cloke said of the challenges that have come with ensuring their son stayed healthy between countless trips to emergency due to the increased chances of infection that come from the condition.
“We pretty much shut ourselves down and stopped going out.
“We were quite social people, going out for dinner or around to family and friends’ houses, but in the last few years we pretty much have become hobbits and stayed inside because we didn’t want to take him anywhere.
“Even the other boys, we took them out of swimming, out of sport, out of everything because we didn’t want them bringing anything home like a cold or something.
“Even to the point of we didn’t want him in the backyard in case he got cold outside. It wasn’t a quality life and we didn’t enjoy it.
“We were always worrying and have to be careful of what is going on.
“You are always scared. The first few times he came home from surgery he slept in our room because you’re worried: Is he going to stop breathing or choke?
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“That is the hardest thing. When you have a baby it’s the best thing in the world then the next thing you know you are being taught CPR for a baby. It’s an eye-opening thing to do.”
Cloke, 37, said they were desperate to find an answer.
“We decided 12 months ago that for a better quality of life for him let’s try to bring him up here (to Queensland), to warmer weather, and if it helps him 2 per cent or 5 per cent then we have tried and made it for him. In Melbourne it was too cold, he was getting sick too often.
“When he would get a common cold, or even a sniffled nose, it pretty much went on to his lungs and collapsed his lungs so he couldn’t breath so we would have to race him to the children’s hospital where we would spend a week to two weeks on oxygen.
“But when we would come up here for holidays with him, it was different. I don’t know if it was the humidity or what, he was a different person.”
Jason and wife Nicole have tried to bring more attention on the condition that Lenny has and they have recently been brainstorming a new way to raise awareness.
“There isn’t a lot of awareness for TOF babies,” Cloke said. “We have a gala ball in Melbourne every year and try to sell TOF (fundraising) bears.
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“A mate over the road said to me recently: ‘Let’s do a jet ski ride from Gold Coast to Melbourne.’
“A lot of people do bike rides and walks and things so that is where that started.
“Nothing is set in stone yet but we might see it next year or the year after that we go for a bit of a jet ski.”
Through all the battles, Cloke, who played 76 AFL games for the Magpies between 2002 to 2006, has had football.
The oldest of three brothers who played for Collingwood, including Cameron, 34, and Travis, 32, and the son of ex Richmond and Magpies player David Cloke, has found footy wherever he has been, playing every year since the age of eight.
When he came to Queensland at the end of last year, Cloke googled the clubs close by and found himself walking into the Broadbeach Cats and asking if he could have a kick.
Half the squad didn’t realise who he was and Cloke enjoyed the relative anonymity before his thoughts of playing a game or two turned into playing every game and becoming the QAFL’s leading goalkicker with 47 majors.
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“It’s been grouse up here. In Melbourne you turn on the television and it’s all footy,” Cloke said.
“Up here you can be a bit invisible and have some fun.”
Cloke even took up a coaching role with the Cats, mentoring the young Auskick players that features son Duke, 6,while his oldest son Harry, 9, is playing under-9s with Broadbeach.
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It’s only possible because of the improvement Lenny has shown with his health since arriving on the Gold Coast, something that Cloke and wife Nicole have recently been reflecting on.
“It was a hard decision to pack it all up and move up but we wouldn’t change it for the world,” Cloke said.
“We have made the right decision. He is so much happier. The change in him has been awesome.”
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