For those with bone marrow failure syndrome, Maddie’s Match this Friday is more important than most
When St Kilda and Richmond face off Friday night in Maddie’s Match, the game really could change lives for the 160-odd young Australians diagnosed with a crippling syndrome each year.
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For the lucky few who get to play at an elite level, football is more than a game — it’s serious business.
For fans, seeing their team suffer a crushing defeat or watching an underdog come from behind to snare the four points can make even the most stony-hearted weep.
For many, AFL is a religion.
And while at times what happens on the field can feel like a matter of life or death, the world will go on spinning regardless of the result.
But when St Kilda and Richmond face off this Friday night in Maddie’s Match, the game really could change lives for the 160-odd young Australians diagnosed with bone marrow failure syndrome each year.
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It will be the third time Etihad has been awash with purple in support of Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, a charity set up to honour St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt’s sister, who died from aplastic anaemia in 2015, aged 26.
This year’s match aims to raise $300,000 for MRV to continue its research into life saving treatments and help more people #FightLikeMaddie.
Weller: ‘This is actually saving lives’
Match ambassador Maverick Weller told the Leader the cause put footy life into perspective.
“At the end of the day, it’s a competitive game and we take it very seriously but stuff like this is the real stuff — this is actually saving lives and putting smiles on faces,” he said.
“(Maddie’s Match) gives the game an opportunity to give back.”
The St Kilda half-forward said he was honoured to play a role in “bringing this important cause to the big stage”.
“The work the Riewoldts and their supporters have done to turn such a personal tragedy into something so moving and important speaks volumes of the kind of people they are,” he said.
“Bone marrow failure syndrome is not spoken about enough and the fact that more than half the people diagnosed with one of these diseases don’t survive is something that needs to change.”
Riewoldt forever grateful for support of former club
This will be the first time Riewoldt won’t lace up his boots for the match.
His life has shifted dramatically in the space of just three and a half years — he lost a sister and gained two sons and hung up his footy boots for good.
But the former star is as determined as ever to build on his sister’s legacy through his off-field work as chairman of MRV.
“As a family, Maddie’s Vision has provided us a way to channel our grief in a really positive way and, among the heartache, find some meaning and purpose,” Riewoldt told the Leader.
And he said he would forever be grateful for the backing of his former club.
“The Saints were the major driver of the inaugural Maddie’s Match, which allowed us to capture the immediate emotion of our family’s tragedy and create awareness,” he said.
“Three years on, this has provided us with the platform to fund research projects and, most importantly, make inroads into bettering the lives of sufferers and their families.”
Lives like those of little Elliot Vanderland, 5, who is fighting two types of bone marrow failure, dyskeratosis and aplastic anaemia.
Elliot has been named the hero of Maddie’s Match again this year.
Since running onto the field in front of a crowd of 47,000 at last year’s match, he has had two bone marrow transplants, celebrated his fifth birthday in hospital and, until recently, hadn’t slept in his own bed for more than a year.
Elliot’s family remain positive, despite the uncertain nature of the disease.
They continue to ride a day-to-day rollercoaster, with Elliot’s older brother Ashton, 10, diagnosed with the same genetic condition and facing the possibility of also needing a bone-marrow transplant in the future.
But Maddie’s Vision gives hope to families like theirs that one day a cure will be found.
To date, the foundation has raised $5.3 million and is funding 13 new research projects, including helping set up a State Government-funded Centre of Research Excellence in Bone Marrow Biology.
Bone marrow failure mainly affects people aged 17 to 40 and according to Maddie’s Vision, the cost of treating and managing a patient with bone marrow failure over a lifetime is often more than $1 million.
Weller said the playing group were proud to stand behind the Riewoldts again this year.
“Knowing Nick and seeing what he has gone through and what the family has gone through makes it a pretty special day — it holds pretty close to the heart,” he said.
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“Maddie’s Vision is still a young foundation but in three years they have changed lives.
“It’s a credit the family and people running the foundation and it’s special to be part of it.”
The Saints will again don purple, white and black guernseys for the match and are keen for supporters to fill Etihad Stadium, make a $5 donation at the gate and join the sea of purple (Maddie’s favourite colour).
Limited edition #FightLikeMaddie merchandise, including caps, beanies and scarfs, is available to buy online or at the ground on game night.
Maddie’s Memberships are also available and include a level one reserve seat and an exclusive Maddie's Vision pin.
And player-worn guernseys will be auctioned after the match through the Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision website.
Riewoldt said realising his sister’s dying wish to prevent others going through a similar ordeal was possible because of continued support from the Saints and the wider football community.
The annual charity match had “secured Maddie’s legacy”, he said.
“And that’s something we will always be extraordinarily grateful for.”
Details: mrv.org.au
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