Eastern Football Netball League community digs deep for Doncaster Football Club young gun
The EFNL community has thrown its support behind Doncaster’s Marcus Alessi, raising tens of thousands of dollars following a shock health diagnosis.
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Doncaster Football Club and the EFNL community have thrown their support behind young gun Marcus Alessi, after a recent shock diagnosis.
The 22-year-old has been told he has multiple lymphomas on the brain.
But the Doncaster club community is backing the Alessi family with the launch of a crowd-funding page last week. The campaign is targeting $50,000 and has seen an outpouring of generosity from the community, raising around $30,000 since last Thursday.
Alessi is currently undergoing chemotherapy, with the fundraiser aiming to contribute to covering the medical expenses.
Sharks senior coach Stewart Kemperman lauded the community for their support.
“It’s incredible – it’s absolutely blown me away how much the community has got around and supported the cause,” he said.
“Credit to the club and the leadership group and all who have put time into getting that up and going so quickly.
“He only started his chemo on Saturday, and to already go into that with such a strong backing behind him puts him and his family’s mind at ease, and they can hopefully just focus on the job at hand, which is getting better as soon as possible.”
Alessi has played 52 senior matches for the Sharks after debuting in 2016, including featuring in the club’s 2017 and 2018 Premier Division finals campaigns.
Kemperman said he was “a long way off” his normal self during pre-season training, exhibiting tiredness and migraines, which led to a number of tests and the discovery of the illness.
“They’re hoping it’s a four to six-month time frame for the chemo which is very gruelling – five days in hospital, 16 days out, that’s the cycle that he’s in,” Kemperman said.
“It’s just hard to comprehend how and why a kid so young … it just makes you think it’s so unfair. Still a lot of life ahead of him to live once he gets over it.”
The EFNL cancelled its season last week amid the coronavirus crisis, which Kemperman said was quickly put into perspective.
The second-year mentor, who’s re-signed for 2021, believes the game is much bigger than the on-field aspect of footy, following Alessi’s shock news.
“The response from the community has been nothing short of amazing, and the idea that footy’s more than a game – that great theme song of The Footy Show – but it could never be truer,” he said.
“That’s the connection summed up there really, that clubs are going to miss where leagues have been shut down.
“That’s what we’re going to miss the most, more so than the game, the mateship, the camaraderie and the community aspect … that’s going to be the big void to fill.
“We’re all rallying behind (Marcus Alessi) and the family to try and get them to the point where they can enjoy the rest of life rather than worry about this.”
Click here to donate to the ‘Sharks Supporting Alessi’ fundraising campaign.