Silver lining for Izzy

By Ashleigh Fielding | posted on August 23, 2018

AFTER a charity tin containing $1000 arranged by five-year-old Jackson Brown was brazenly swiped from an Albany pizza shop, the family of the little girl he was trying to help has this week been overwhelmed with donations.

Last week, after the tin was stolen from the counter at Domino’s in Albany (‘Charity tin swiped’, August 16), the owner of McDonald’s Albany Darren Tyrrell immediately pledged $1000 to replace the cash Jackson had intended to go to his friend Izzy Zerna to help with her treatment for cancer.

Mr Tyrrell said he felt devastated when he read about the theft.

“I showed the story to my wife and we just felt very sad,” he said.

“We thought Jackson must be a great little guy and that this would have been a kick in the guts for him.

“We just wanted to give back, because the Albany community is very generous and were very kind to us when we first came to town.”

On Monday afternoon, Izzy’s mother Kasey Zerna shed tears upon receiving a $1000 cheque from the Tyrrells.

In March last year, Izzy, 5, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, known as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

At the time, Ms Zerna thought a trip to the doctor would result in a tonsillitis diagnosis.

However, she was to learn that Izzy was a lot sicker than that.

When Jackson heard his little friend would be away from school for some time, he decided to help her feel better in whatever way he could.

He placed fundraiser tins with photos of Izzy on the front at several well-known businesses (‘Jackson’s big idea to help a mate’, July 12) and held a fundraising event at Domino’s Albany on August 10.

Before the fundraiser, he had already raised $2260.40 from the tins.

Jackson’s mother Nikki Notman said he was heartbroken upon learning the tin had been stolen three days after the fundraiser.

But news this week of two more donations, from Domino’s, helped turn Jackson’s frown upside down.

From Brisbane, John Harney, who heads up Domino’s Give for Good charity, confirmed $1000 would come Izzy’s way.

This was on top of an $800 donation pledged by Domino’s Albany.

“We were disappointed to learn that a charity collection tin containing an estimated $1000 was taken from the store,” Mr Harney told The Weekender.

“We wish Izzy all the best with her treatment.”

Jackson could not sit still when told about the extra money.

“It’s amazing and fantastic!” he grinned.

“And now, I get to play with her more at school and that’s really great.”

Ms Zerna said the money, now totalling more than $6000, would help alleviate the costs accumulated from Izzy’s health scare.

She said this included treatment, hospital parking fees of more than $20 a day, fuel used driving to and from Perth, day care for her two-year-old son Callan and living expenses – Ms Zerna had no income to help her family while she remained bedside with Izzy.

“It’s hard to accept charity,” she said, balancing Callan on her hip.

“We’ve only been in Albany for five years and the community has shown us so much love and support.

“It’s been really overwhelming.”

Ms Zerna said Izzy was happy to have been at home for the past two weeks after spending five months in hospital receiving chemotherapy.

She said Izzy would need to return to Perth every three months for scans and was not quite in remission, but for now the cancer “looks like it has gone”.

Yesterday, Officer in Charge of Albany Police Grant Pollard said the investigation into the stolen money tin was continuing.

“There are no further leads or descriptions of the person of interest, so we are still investigating,” Senior Sergeant Pollard said.

He urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.

Anyone wishing to donate to make Izzy’s recovery a little easier can do so by throwing a fiver into one of Jackson’s money tins at Jo-Joe’s Pizza, Wilson’s Brewing Company, Six Degrees, Alkaline Café, Snap Fitness, Denmark Tavern, Earl of Spencer, Great Southern Supplements, and Gourmandise and Co.