By Violet Li
Four-year-old Wyatt Dickinson is excited to meet the football stars at the Footy Show Grand Final Eve: My Room Telethon on 29 September.
The Sunday Footy Show on Channel 9 will team up with My Room Children’s Cancer Charity to raise funds for kids fighting cancer.
Tony Jones, Nathan Brown, Matthew Lloyd, Damian Barrett and Kane Cornes will join hosts and My Room ambassadors Clint Stanaway and Alicia Loxley as they share stories of amazing kids and their families from the Monash Children’s Hospital Cancer Centre as well as raise funds to support patients and families affected by childhood cancer.
Wyatt was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a blood cancer, in June 2022 and he is currently in the maintenance stage of active treatment which will be ongoing until September 2024.
His mother Jessica Dickinson said the family had been supported by My Room from the start of the boy’s treatment at Monash Children’s Hospital.
“Wyatt has had access to dietitians who supported him through the hardest stages of his treatment when he wasn’t really wanting to eat, so they guided us how to keep him physically as well as we could.
“We’ve seen their physio who has been checking on his leg development and bone development.
“That was very useful,” she said.
Ms Dickinson said she really appreciated it when the charity paid her home insurance bills to take some financial burden off the family.
She recalled My Room chief executive officer Margaret Zita took one of the Richmond Tigers players to the hospital.
“He spent some time with Wyatt kicking the footy.
“That is really, really nice,” she said.
Wyatt will be in the audience on the Grand Final Eve: My Room Telethon, with the Sunday Footy Show team, as well as a few special guests, as well as AFL players to play fun activities.
Ms Dickinson said the four-year-old picked up an interest in footy in the last six months and he was really loving it.
“He wanted a toy football and he would ask my husband and I to play footy with him in the backyard.
“I’ve taken him to a few games.
“He’s a bit sad now because he doesn’t fully understand the games but the season is finishing,” she said.
Ms Dickinson said the family was grateful for the opportunity for Wyatt to get on the show. He is remaining in good spirits, she said.
“One of the big things that my husband and I are passionate about is if there’s any sort of silver lining or opportunity that can bring some happiness to Wyatt while he’s going through such an awful thing for such a little kid.
“We are so grateful for anything that makes his life a little bit happier.
“He really deserves the special things,” she said.
The Footy Show Grand Final Eve: My Room Telethon will air on Channel 9 and 9Now at 7:30pm on Friday 29 September.
