Author: Ashleigh Fielding

FOR Make a Wish Albany president Ellie Gregory and vice president Sherri Willock, it’s all about seeing the smile light up on a sick child’s face that makes the long hours fundraising worthwhile.

From building cubby houses and buying state- of-the-art computers, to sending families on holidays and creating special baby hampers, the pair have seen and done it all in the name of giving sick children from the Great Southern a break from hospitals and needles.

Ms Gregory said Make a Wish Albany’s next fundraiser, to be held this Saturday, will take a different form from the usual quiz night and bake sale to create a more inclusive style of event.

“We felt like stuff was missing for young kids,” she said.

“So this is the first time we are doing a kid-focused fundraiser.

“We just want to do something to benefit the community.”

A range of kids’ activities will be held from 9am to noon on October 6 at the Albany Town Square and for $4 per child, kids can dance with Happy Feet Fitness, play games with Jamie the Clown, buy a treat from the bake sale and go in the running to win a raffle prize.

All money raised will go directly to Make a Wish to help grant wishes, of which the Albany branch has granted 15 in 10 years and one was completed as recently as May.

Albany’s own Taj Stubber, now 16, was one of the 15 children who had his wish granted in the past and said having a wish become reality helped alleviate the stress of his medical battle.

Taj was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was four years old and living in Borden.

He spent three years receiving treatment in Perth and staying at Ronald McDonald House with his mum, and missed time at home with his dad and two older brothers.

It was when Taj was seven years old and back at home that some of his secret wishes came true.

“I got told I was doing a grocery run in town,” Taj recalled.

“When I got back, there was a West Coast Eagles-themed pool party and David Hall, my favourite sprint car driver, was there.

“Then I found out I was going to the Gold Coast for a week with Mum, Dad, Bodhi and Logan.”

Taj said he got to meet Nitro, one of the hosts from TV series The Shak and went to all the different theme park ‘worlds’.

The smile on his face when reflecting on the trip eight years on showed how much of a difference the holiday made for Taj and his family.

“It was a pretty tough time,” Taj said about the toll his cancer battle took on his loved ones.

“So it was good to get away and have time to hang out together.”

Ms Gregory revealed the Albany Make a Wish group is about to start working on a new wish for a child living in the Great Southern, and said she encouraged people to attend Saturday’s event to help raise money for the charity.

Young Taj said he still receives annual health check-ups and planned to have one this week in Perth, which he hopes will be the last one in Perth before receiving them annually in Albany.

DESPITE unwavering Federal and local support, the State Government says it needs to put “more consideration” into backing a radiotherapy facility in Albany to enable Great Southern cancer patients to receive treatment closer to home.

In the wake of a $6.6 million funding announcement by Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson to aid the purchase of radiotherapy equipment for a private facility at Albany Day Hospital, State health minister Roger Cook said further thought and planning was required before the State could throw its full support behind the project.

“The WA Government welcomes the Commonwealth funding commitment towards the purchase of oncology equipment,” he said.

“More consideration needs to be given to the project and communication is ongoing with the Federal Government and the WA Country Health Service.”

Federal health minister Greg Hunt made a whirlwind trip to Albany on Tuesday in a show of support for the project and further insisted the State come to the party.

Mr Hunt said the likely remaining cost for the radiotherapy facility would be $6 million, of which the State’s contribution could potentially be half.

He said Genesis Cancer Care, the private provider awarded the license for the facility, would contribute “significantly” and split the remaining cost “50/50” with the State.

“This [facility] is in WA’s interest, it’s in Albany’s interest and we would like the State to do what other states are doing and provide this basic facility,” Mr Hunt said.

“It’s about moving quickly now.

“This is in the top 100 projects in the country.

“The Commonwealth has assessed need and viability, and determined that Albany has high need and high viability.

“I don’t think the State can ignore this finding by the Commonwealth.

“It is innovative, where you have private and public and community com- ing together, and the only missing part now is the State.”

Genesis Cancer Care general manager Michael Davis said although he would not guarantee the facility would be operational by the June 30, 2019 date as suggested by Mr Wilson previously, he said it would not be a long process once the wheels started turning.

“There are many requirements to be considered prior to commencing a service,” he said.

“The first step is to agree on a service model that will benefit all patients in the region.

“Then, a site is required and further capital raised to build the facility.

“There are still a number of unknowns, but once these are agreed, the service can come together quickly.”

WA Country Health Service regional director for the Great Southern David Naughton, who stated in March that the WA Health Clinical Services Framework for 2014 to 2024 did not include a dedicated radiation oncology treatment service for the Great Southern, would not speculate on the role WACHS would play in a radiotherapy facility.

“In other parts of Western Australia, some public radio oncology treatment services are delivered by the private sector and organisations such as Genesis Care,” he said.

“However, as there has been no formal assessment of the capital cost of an Albany facility, it would be remiss of the WA Country Health Service to speculate on the role it would play in the development and operation of this technology.”

Mr Naughton said patients in the Great Southern currently have access to a range of specialised outpatient cancer treatments in Albany and are supported to access radiotherapy in Bunbury and Perth.

In instances where travel is required, Mr Naughton said eligible patients are able to apply for financial support in the form of the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme.

AHEAD of Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, the Speaker of Western Australia’s Parliament has eschewed all local hype surrounding the West Coast Eagles, choosing to back his beloved black-and-whites instead.

With magpie season in full swing atop Mount Clarence on Tuesday, Albany MLA Peter Watson said the time was ripe for Collingwood to swoop and snatch the nation’s most coveted flag for the sixteenth time.

“After the Eagles beat Collingwood in the qualifying final, I copped a lot of flack,” winked the Legislative Assembly Speaker, who this week donned the black and white for his daily constitutional down, then up, Mount Clarence with pet pooch Harry.

“But I’ve kept all the emails and all the text messages just in case we happen to win at the weekend, and then I’ll reply to them.

“And if we lose, nothing else will be said.”

Mr Watson said his all-time favourite Pie is 2011 Brownlow medallist Dane Swan, “because he’s different”.

“He was his own man, a brilliant footballer, won a medal,” he reflected on the champion midfielder who retired in 2016.

Not far behind in Mr Watson’s esteem are current player Steele Sidebottom, and Macedonian Marvel Peter Daicos, who played his first footy in the Melbourne suburb of Preston where Mr Watson was born.

“They’d be the three, but Swanny is number one,” he expanded.

“He’s a real Collingwood person, rough around the edges, tatts all over him, but by gee he could play footy and he’s a great entertainer.”

Mr Watson, 71, grew up in Thornbury, just south of Preston.

“The guy across the road used to deliver the wood and the ice and he used to wear a Collingwood guernsey year in, year out with a beanie and he’d get me in my high chair and he’d grab me on the cheek and he’d say: ‘Don’t you barrack for Carlton’,” he recalled.

“Everyone else in my family barracked for Carlton.

“But he bought me a Collingwood guernsey when I was two and I’ve been a Collingwood supporter ever since.”

Mr Watson, who represented Australia as a middle distance runner at the 1968 Olympics, played junior footy and a scratch match or two in the Colts for Claremont before running took over.

“I wasn’t much of a footballer,” he confided.

“I wanted to be a footballer.

“All I wanted to do was play for Claremont and Collingwood, but I had to find something that I was good at, not what I wanted to be good at.”

He said he just hoped Saturday’s grand final would be a good game.

“I think it’s two teams who at the start of the year no-one thought would do well, so it’s a good luck story for one of the teams and it’s also a good luck story for the other team that got there,” he added philosophically.

No magpies or eagles were harmed in the production of this story.