Ryan Wiggins: Cygnet Football Club builds new home to raise money for player’s medical costs

Kind-hearted locals have banded together to build an $800,000 home, with proceeds from the sale to help an ex-footy player with quadriplegia realise his dream of walking again. RYAN’S SAY >>

House built to raise money for football player Ryan Wiggins at Cygnet, Cygnet Football Club member David Brereton who was part of the sub committee that co ordinated the home build. Picture: Chris Kidd

A footballer who suffered a near-fatal spinal injury has described an innovative community fundraising effort to help him pay for his medical costs as “truly overwhelming”.

Ryan Wiggins played for the Cygnet Football Club before sustaining a C2 fracture to his spinal cord in a non-football-related incident in 2021, leaving him with quadriplegia.

Last year, the footy club came up with an ingenious way of helping Mr Wiggins pay for his ongoing rehabilitation.

A seven-member subcommittee was formed, made up of passionate members of the club, who organised the purchase of an 832sq m block of land at Cygnet, on which they began building a three-bedroom house last March.

Ryan Wiggins. Picture: Linda Higginson

The vast majority of the materials and labour were donated by various suppliers, contractors, and good-hearted locals.

The proceeds from the sale of the O’Connell Close home will be gifted to Mr Wiggins for his medical costs.

“The support from the Cygnet and wider community has been truly overwhelming,” Mr Wiggins told the Mercury.

“I’m very grateful to every single person who’s played a role to bring this project to life.

“The project has meant the world to me as it keeps my dreams of regaining movement, and hopefully being able to walk again, alive.”

Mr Wiggins said the sale of the Cygnet house would enable him to continue rehab trips to Queensland and to afford to travel to the US for different treatments.

The home was completed in December and was put on the market on Friday. The subcommittee is asking for offers over $775,000.

House built to raise money for football player Ryan Wiggins at Cygnet. Picture: Chris Kidd

Subcommittee chair Jamie Synnott said an open home was being held next Saturday, which would not only give prospective buyers a chance to view the property, but also those who had helped bring the project to fruition.

“When you get to the end of it, and you actually just stand back and you look at it, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the generosity of people – suppliers and volunteers,” he said.

“Some had a direct connection to Ryan, some did not know him at all but were certainly touched by the situation and circumstances.

“Just the willingness of the football club, in a small rural community, to take on this risk. You forget that now but there’s always been a level of risk involved in a project like this, to support one of their players.

“I’m not sure you’d see that in too many other places.”

House built to raise money for football player Ryan Wiggins at Cygnet. Picture: Chris Kidd

David Brereton, another member of the subcommittee, said more than 50 suppliers had donated different construction materials to the project and that many of the tradies who helped build the house gave up their weekends to do so.

“A lot of the tradies are footballers and that was the thing, too – they’d play footy on Saturday and then they’d spend all Sunday, during winter, working on the house,” he said.

“There have been individuals and companies associated with other clubs in the SFL and the TSL, like Lauderdale, that have put their hand up to say, ‘I’m happy to [help].’”

The open home at 1 O’Connell Close will be held on Saturday, February 4 from 12pm.