Australians had an emotional response following former Newcastle and St George Illawarra star, Alex McKinnon’s, tragic spinal injury, especially after 60 minutes covered the story and dedicated their entire show to it. Since then there has been much more publicity surrounding spinal injuries and quadriplegia. Seeing such a fit young man being told that he would not only be unable to play the game he loved but he would never walk again shocked the public but also rallied support for all who are suffering from spinal cord injuries.
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The Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation hosted an intimate fundraising gathering for 80 people at The Apollo Restaurant in Potts Point, to raise money for ground breaking clinical trials into the cure for paralysis, which will be run in Australia in 2018.
According to the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation “There are approximately 12,000 recorded cases of spinal cord injury in Australia, and each year there are 300-400 new cases…Young men in the prime of their life are most likely to sustain a spinal cord injury, being four times more likely to sustain spinal cord injuries than women.”
An incredible array of people selflessly donated their time to make this fundraising event happen. The Bachelor’s Tim Robards and Anna Heinrech attended and model Ashely Hart was also seen supporting the important event and Sylvia Jeffreys from channel Nine’s Today show was the emcee. Rochelle Collis, skin expert and owner of two Laser Clinics Australia, generously covered all the key costs of hosting this event, including the venue, food & beverage. It was also the first time that The Apollo had closed its doors for a private event -all in the name of charity.
Each year the foundation is making advancements in spinal injury recovery and they are providing significant hope and progress across the world. This fundraising event was a great step forward towards their goal, which is to keep working until complete recovery is achievable.
As a result of last night’s event and the foundations incredible efforts over this week, they raised in excess of $375,000.
