Melbourne football players Jack Viney and Tom Sparrow visit Cooper in hospital.
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The Cobram cricket and football netball clubs are raising money for a local family whose son was recently diagnosed with leukaemia.
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The clubs will be holding a fundraising event at the Cobram showgrounds on Saturday, December 20 from 5pm onwards.
Cobram Cricket Club president Manny Artavilla said he was “devastated” when he found out a member of the club, Cooper Betts, had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
He said it was great to see how everyone was banding together to help the family, with various other local organisations and sporting clubs pitching in.
On the day, the Cobram cricketers and footballers will be playing each other in a game of T20 cricket.
There will also be a barbecue, a bar and a raffle where you can win tickets to an AFL game at the MCG.
“All proceeds from the day will go towards the family,” Mr Artavilla said.
Cooper’s mum, Sonia, was shocked to hear about the fundraiser and said it was “unbelievable.”
“I bawled my eyes out, it's blown us away, and we can't thank them enough,” she said.
“We’re not people who ask for help.”
Cooper was also “blown away” when he found out what the cricket and football netball clubs were doing.
“He's like, ‘Are they doing that for me, Mum?” and I said, ‘Yeah, they are mate...’ and my other two boys are blown away as well,” Sonia said.
Cooper, 12, has been a part of the Cobram Cricket Club for almost four years, Sonia is the secretary of the club and Cooper’s dad is a committee member and the under-15s coach.
Just over two weeks ago, Cooper was diagnosed with leukaemia, and he is currently undergoing treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
“It’s flipped our whole world upside down,” Sonia said.
“We've had our moments, and now it's just being strong for him and our other two boys who are at home trying to be as normal as possible.”
Cooper’s parents Sonia and Matt have been trying to distract Cooper and keep him as busy as possible while he is in the hospital.
“We’ve been doing Lego, he’s been playing the Nintendo Switch with my brother ... been colouring in, reading books,” Sonia said.
Cooper has had special visitors at the hospital to brighten his day, including players from the Melbourne Football Club.
“He’s got a couple of visitors from Cobram, which has made his day, he met Andy Lee from Hamish and Andy,” Sonia said.
Andy Lee visits Cooper in hospital and gives him a signed copy of his new book.
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The week before he was diagnosed, Cooper had been unwell and his family thought he had gastro, but a week later he still wasn’t better so they took him to Cobram hospital.
After doing blood tests his parents were told to take him to Shepparton hospital immediately.
“We went to Shepparton, and they did some more tests ... and said his white cell count was 594, and to put it into perspective, it should be 10,” Sonia said.
From there they were flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where he was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Sadly, this is not Cooper’s first time at the Royal Children’s Hospital, as he was born with craniosynostosis.
“His skull was fused together when he was born ... so he had skull surgery five days before his first birthday,” Sonia said.
Mum Sonia and dad Matt will be shaving their heads in solidarity alongside their two other sons.
The family are not sure if Cooper will be able to attend the match, but Mr Artavilla said they would be live-streaming the T20 game in Cobram for Cooper so he could watch it from his hospital bed.
To make a donation, contact the cricket club on Facebook or call Manny Artavilla on 0412 334 359.
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