Young Sunshine Coast FC player Mackenar Bradfield relies on his feet to allow him to excel in games, but for children suffering from the condition ‘clubfoot’, playing football is impossible.
It was these children Mackenar set out to help when he organised a “Juggle for Justice” to raise money to cure children in Africa who were born with the deformity.
Club foot, also called congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV), is a congenital deformity. The affected foot looks like it has been rotated inwards at the ankle.
This debilitating birth-defect affected English Captain Steven Gerrard, who was fortunately cured at a young age and went on to become one of the best footballers in the world.
Without treatment, people with club feet often appear to walk on their ankles or on the sides of their feet. However with treatment, the vast majority of patients recover completely.
Mackenar decided to raise money to help children affected by club foot after hearing about the deformity from a family friend who worked with CURE Mallawi.
“He saw how the kids who had been cured were able to play a football match,” Mackenar’s mother, Annette, said.
“He said ‘well if the children who have club foot could just get an operation which only costs $250, they could play football as well’.”
“He decided to raise money for CURE Mallawi and chose a juggle-a-thon so he could use his feet to help kids who can’t use their feet.”
Five of Mackenar’s team mates joined in the fundraiser and the group hoped to raise $250, enough to cure one child.
They held the juggling session on Monday, September 9, and some of the boys managed to juggle the ball more than 300 times each.
They quickly overtook their fundraising target and reached a total of more than $500, enough to cure two children.
Sunshine Coast FC congratulates Mackenar and his team mates Nathan Foster, Joseph Higginson, Tom Whittaker, Archie Waterson and Lucas Howell on their fantastic efforts in raising money for a very worthy cause.
