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Welcome to The Weekender Herald. A community newspaper distributed in the Adelaide Hills, The Weekender Herald provides news and information about local people and local happenings.
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Tee off with Angus
February 02nd, 2012
by Daniela Frangos
Come and practice your swing in the name of charity next month at the Two Hands Captain Courageous Golf Day.
The charity game will be held at the Mount Barker-Hahndorf Golf Club on Wednesday, February 29 in an effort to raise funds for local charity Captain Courageous.
The foundation aims to raise funds and awareness of Diamond Black-Fan Anemia, an extremely rare blood disorder caused by a failure in the bone marrow.
Stirling resident Jessica Bond founded the charity for her son, Angus, who was diagnosed with the disease at eight weeks of age.
"Initially we were told he had cancer, so for the first 12 hours of his life we were trying to come to terms with that," she said.
"Then the next morning they said he was okay and he simply needed a couple of blood transfusions and he would be fine."
"But he got progressively worse in the next three weeks, and the doctors didn't know what was wrong with him until a bone marrow biopsy confirmed there were no red blood cells in his bone marrow."
Angus is one of only 800 people in the world who cannot produce the red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body.
With no known cure, treatment consists of regular blood transfusions, coupled with drugs to remove the build-up of iron in the body caused by the disease.
Each month Angus visits the McGuiness McDermont Clinic at the Women's and Children's Hospital.
At just three and a half years old, Angus has had 49 red blood cell transfusions, but the spirited young boy hasn't let this condition get him down.
"He has been amazing - I thought as he got older he would be less willing to go to the hospital all the time, but he is so good about it - he likes to show everyone in the hospital where his 'noo noo' goes," Jessica said.
"He can't say needle, but I think 'noo noo' is a bit of a nicer word to use!"
The Bond family lived in Singapore and Toronto before moving to the Adelaide Hills in 2009.
Jessica said the community support for her son has been outstanding.
"It's been fantastic, the community has really rallied around us, and our family and friends have been incredible with their support - it's just amazing," she said.
"Our first golf day last year was a huge success, and we have held a few other fundraisers such as movie days, and a black tie charity event where we raised $250,000 in one night - I couldn't believe it!"
"The Hills community has really gotten behind us."
Starting the Captain Courageous charity in 2010, Jessica said their main aim was fundraising for research.
"We're fundraising to help fund research at the Hanson Institute, South Australia's premier medical research institute," she said.
"In partnership with them, we're setting up a three to four year research project into the causes of this debilitating disease, but to do this we need to raise $1 million."
"We're also looking at funding other research across Australia."
The Two Hands Captain Courageous Golf Day will begin with a shotgun start at 12.30pm.
After a round of golf, guests will be treated to pre-dinner drinks and canapes on the verandah at 5pm.
A two-course dinner matched with wine will follow at 6pm, with a live auction and live entertaimnment throughout the evening.
"Anyone can get involved, you just need a group of four for the golf game," Jessica said.
"It's just a really fun night, I encourage everyone to come down - ideally we're aiming to raise around $5,000."
The Two Hands Captain Courageous Golf Day will be held at the Mount Barker-Hahndorf Golf Club on Wednesday, February 29.
Tickets ate $25 for the golf game, $35 for the two course dinner or $50 for a golf and dinner package.
Places are limited. To book, phone the club on 8391 0547.
To donate to Captain Courageous visit http://www.captaincourageous.info or phone Jessica Bond on 0431 605 406.
The Weekender Herald
The Weekender Herald aims to provide the best print medium for our clients to achieve the maximum exposure for their messages to our readers and their potential clients within our targeted area.
The Weekender Herald is an independent, innovative, good-news paper serving the Adelaide Hills and Mt Barker council areas. Founded in 1992, the paper is the leader in providing up-to-date, relevant lifestyle content. It seeks to maximise its appeal and relevance to readers and consumers on behalf of its advertisters.