By NICOLE WILLIAMS
SANTA had a very difficult job in the Robinson household this Christmas.
Eleven-year-old Blair had recently been treated to a Make-A-Wish trip to Townsville to shadow the Melbourne Tigers basketball team for 48 hours.
The family returned to their Cannon’s Creek home only weeks before Santa came down the chimney and it was a hard task for him to beat the trip.
“It was amazing but it was just so tough just before Christmas,” mum Michelle said.
“Santa had a tough time topping that.”
Blair, a big basketball fan, was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma two years ago and has been fighting ever since.
He is now in remission but still undergoing chemotherapy treatment to ensure the cancer stays at bay.
“We still have a little way to go,” Michelle said.
“He is pretty phenomenal. He has been amazingly accepting and just treating life as normal.”
Except most 11-year-olds don’t get the opportunity to follow their mentors to Townsville.
The family flew to Townsville with the team, trained with them, ate with them, ran out onto the court at a game, sat on the bench during games and sat in on strategy meetings.
“It was really good,” Blair said.
“It was a little bit weird at the start but it was good in the end.”
Michelle said Blair was made to feel very special by all the players.
“The team were amazing with him. They are a fantastic group of guys,” she said.
“It was such a special experience. One that money can’t buy.”
The team also invited Blair to “come and say hello” any time he attended a Melbourne Tigers game in the future – which he did.
“We went and saw the Tigers in Wollongong and went up to the lounge,” Blair said.
“They were all happy to see me.”
Christmas may be over but Blair’s memories of his trip with his idols will last forever.
