Cygnet Football Club, locals building a house, sale proceeds to be donated to Ryan Wiggins
After Cygnet football star Ryan Wiggins fractured his spine in a devastating accident last year, his club devised an ingenious plan to raise a significant amount of money to support his recovery.
Hobart & South
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The Cygnet Football Club, together with a group of good-hearted locals, has come up with a novel fundraiser to help support former player, Ryan Wiggins, who suffered a near-fatal spinal injury last year.
Mr Wiggins, 26, survived a C2 fracture to his spinal cord in a non-football-related incident, which left him a quadriplegic.
Now, his footy club has established a working group to oversee the construction of a home, which they plan to sell later this year as a house and land package, with the proceeds to be donated to Mr Wiggins.
Jamie Synnott, the co-ordinator of the seven-member working group, said a mixture of former players, supporters, sponsors, club officials, and Mr Wiggins’s friends had been contributing to the project since August, volunteering their time and money to help see it to fruition.
He said the working group had been able to purchase an 830sq m block on “extremely favourable terms”.
“Cygnet is a pretty popular place in the residential market (and) there just happened to be a subdivision there at the time,” Mr Synnott said.
“Within a matter of days, arrangements had been made to have in-principle approval from the developer, who’s been fantastic in terms of his support, to buy a block.
“We’ve had fantastic support from contractors and suppliers in terms of either donating time or materials to help us, and Bendigo Bank, who arranged finance for the project.
“People just want to help. And it’s a real tangible and practical way to help Ryan with his recovery and … to help support Ryan’s family.”
Cygnet Football Club president David O’Neill said Mr Wiggins had only played for the club for a short time before his accident but had nonetheless made “a big impact on us straight away because he is a genuine, lovely bloke”.
“It’s just so devastating what happened and you can’t fix it, you can’t make it right,” Mr O’Neill said. “But he’s only a young bloke and God knows where we’ll be with technology in another 5-10 years.”
“We’re just happy to give him the best chance to be the best he can be.”
Ben Smith, a builder and former Cygnet player who is also a member of the working group, said the foundations for the structure had been dug and the slab for the three bedroom home would be poured next Saturday.
“We’re just trying to work together to raise as many funds as we can to hopefully give (Ryan) a better quality of life in some way, letting him have the best care that he can physically get,” he said.
Mr Wiggins told the Mercury he was “so grateful and overwhelmed for the continued support of the community”.
“I’m currently in Queensland, halfway through my first block of intensive rehabilitation, and to think of (and) hear all the ongoing support back home is giving me the strength to continue,” he said.
If you wish to donate to the project, contact the Cygnet Football Club via facebook.com/Cygnetfc.
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