Family: Courtney, Frankie and Kaare.
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In 2021 Kaare Glass and his partner, Courtney Herd, were on top of the world.
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With a baby on the way the young couple was looking forward to the future.
Kicking off the footy season with Benalla All Blacks, coaches said Mr Glass was an asset to the team showing great spirit on and off the field.
All Blacks vice-president Phil Spencer said that everything was going well until June of 2021 when Mr Glass took a knee to the stomach during a game.
Fighter: Baby Frankie has been in and out of hospital since birth.
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“He went up for a contested mark and took a hit,” Mr Spencer said.
“Long story short, because of that incident he lost four litres of blood into his stomach.
“Luckily one of our trainers is a nurse and could see how serious it was.
“So we rushed him to hospital in Wangaratta.”
He would spend the next three months in the Intensive Care Unit with significant injuries.
Because of that he was unable to work.
While he was in ICU the couple welcomed baby Frankie into the world.
Sadly she would spend the first few months of her life at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
She was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy; cortical visual impairment; epilepsy, dystonia and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.
Together: Courtney, Frankie and Kaare.
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On top of vision, speech, occupational therapy and dietician appointments, Frankie needs to travel three hours per week to physiotherapy.
She also has at least two surgeries planned to address breathing and eating issues.
As a result Mr Glass has not been in a position to return to work since.
The Benalla All Blacks Football Netball Club is hosting an event, ‘Kaare Glass & Frankie’s Fight’, on Saturday, May 28 at the Benalla All Blacks Hall, to raise funds for the family.
Mr Spencer said it would raise money via a gold coin donation from attendees and an auction on the evening offering goods and services donated by the community.
“The auction will be run by Pete and Shane from Ray White Benalla,” he said.
“And we are looking for more donations to auction off on the night.
“So, for example, we have about 35 different donations so far.
“We’ve got a local painter, who has donated four hours of their time, and we have a local carpenter, who has donated eight hours of their time.
“And others have donated items to auction off.”
If you are in a position to offer a donation for the auction you can call Mr Spencer on 0409 600 322.
The family has a GoFundMe page set up where people can make a donation to help out at this most difficult time.
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