Since a cancer diagnosis in July, life for Wagga’s Ethan Barrell, 8, and his family has been surreal. Together they battled an aggressive and rare cancer, and relief came in December with news Ethan was in remission.
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But the Barrell family are still dealing with the financial burden of treatment, after Ethan’s father, Clint, had four months leave without pay to live with Ethan in Sydney.
With costs mounting, mum, Rach, knew she couldn’t afford to register “soccer mad” Ethan and his sister Ella, 10, in the Football Wagga competition this season.
As a last resort, Rach called Tolland club president Maurie Hogan, who was more than happy to help.
He reached out to sponsor, Rules Club, who covered Ethan and Ella’s registration.
Rach was overjoyed with thanks.
“It means bloody a lot, to be honest,” she said.
“Us not saying no anymore allows to the kids to be active, when financially, we wouldn’t have been able to do it. He can’t wait to play again. Ethan been asking for the last two weeks if training’s back on, and he wants to go down and kick the ball every day.”
Ella had her first training session on Monday and training for Ethan kicks off on Saturday.
Ethan loves his coach, Will Silver, plays upfront, and has ambitious dreams for the season, to “get 100 goals.”
