Cootamundra is watching out for locals, after four-year-old Brooklyn Annetts and her parents, Jeremy and Catherine, were shocked with their Childs devastating cancer diagnosis.
Mr Annetts is a born Cootamundra local who has been saving lives in Coota Fire and Rescue, and now he needs the community he has given so much over the years to rally behind him.
Mrs Annetts also served the community as a nurse for the Murrumbidgee Local Health District before the family decided to move to Queensland two years ago.
In early March, the same day Mrs Annetts was giving birth to their baby girl Daisy, the family received tragic news that Brooklyn had been diagnosed with lymphocyte-pre-dominant Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer.
Knowing Cootamundra, the town would not sit by and let one of their own suffer alone.
A charity golf tournament has been organised by the Cootamundra Combined Emergency Service Ball committee to raise funds to help alleviate the family’s financial burden as Brooklyn receives treatment.
Committee chairman Aaron Walker told media the event was a way for friends and former colleagues to help from afar.
“We’re just trying to get together and raise some funds to help them get through the next three to six months of treatment,” he said.
“Cootamundra is a small community, even those who didn’t work alongside Jeremy or Catherine, they were both part of the community for a long time, and they will rally behind them.”
Mr Walker said it was what he would hoped his community would do for him if the roles were reversed.
“I like to think that if I was in this situation, friends, community members and former colleagues would get behind and support me, so I think it’s only right that we do the same for them,” he said.
Mr Annetts said to media while accepting help had been a hard pill to swallow, the appreciation he and his wife had was indescribable.
“We are very grateful but also very overwhelmed,” he said.
“When you get a diagnosis like that of your child the world just stops, work stops, everything stops, your world is literally turned upside down.
“For them to want to help us, words just can’t describe the appreciation.”
The Annetts family will need to stay in Brisbane, away from their home, while Brooklyn receives treatment for an unknown amount of time.
Mrs Annetts said Brooklyn was doing as good as a four-year-old who couldn’t comprehend having to be away from her pet dog and her home could do.
“She’s handling the treatment well, we have our good days and bad days, and we’re just taking it day by day,” Mrs Annetts she said.
“With the support of family and friends, it makes it a little bit easier.
“You really rely on the charities and support groups around. Its unpredictable, you can’t plan anything.”
The 13-hole four-person Ambrose charity golf event will run from 9am for a 9.30am start on Sunday, June 1, at the Cootamundra Golf and Sports Club.
Registrations can be made by calling 6942 2313.
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