Nora Holly and Eamon Doak’s last official task as Little Telethon Stars was to take to the skies with a HeliWest scenic flight across Perth’s landmarks.
HeliWest donated 10x scenic flights at last year’s Telethon Ball, which raised $600,000, to then be donated back to Telethon. The flights have been offered to kids with medical conditions, who have shared their stories as part of Telethon, as well as children who have driven community fundraising and student ambassadors.
Eight year old Eamon was particularly excited at the opportunity. His dream is to be a pilot. This is a big dream for a child who lives with Ushers syndrome, a disease which meant he was born profoundly deaf, and will gradually go blind. Telethon is currently funding research conducted by Lion’s Eye Institute, with the goal of saving the sight of Eamon and other children with inherited retinal diseases.
Nora, the six year old ray of sunshine, was equally excited. The six year old Neuroblastoma survivor has shown WA, through Telethon, her amazing energy and zest for life.
The other Telethon children who took to the skies courtesy of HeliWest were:
Scott Guerini – Scott has been fundraising for Telethon since he was just four years old with his annual marathon walk. Scott, now 15, has almost raised $200,000 over the years for Telethon.
Jack Cummins – As a teenager, Jack has battled his fair share of adversity. He survived a cancer diagnosis after surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy. Now, Jack is facing yet another challenge with a neurological disorder that affects his mobility, but is making great progress with therapy thanks to Telethon Beneficiary Healthy Strides.
Quentin Fitzgerald – Telethon’s 8 year old Cupcake King is in his 3rd year fundraising for Telethon by selling cupcakes. This year he is already up to $2713 raised and is hoping to reach $5,000
Noah Lekias – At the age of 10 Noah experienced something no child should have to go through, he suffered a near fatal cardiac arrest at a play date. He was diagnosed with a heart rhythm disorder and now lives with an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) 24 hours a day.
Emily Barlow – Emily lives with Cerebral Palsy and regulary utilises Telethon beneficiaries including Superfins and Healthy Strides.
Next week, there will be three more flights which will go to some Telethon Student Ambassadors, who have done a brilliant job fundraising for Telethon at their schools.
Whilst the Telethon Weekend is October 16&17 this year, members of the community and businesses can fundraise for Telethon every day of the year as we aim to reach a big $50million target to ensure we can support all the amazing children’s charities that deliver life-saving and life-changing services and programs for the children who need our support the most.