Letter from John Spackman,
Re: Tyson Alcorn
Dear Martin,
It is now fifteen months since I first contacted you in regards to Tyson Alcorn, a 17 year old young man from Kyogle in Northern NSW, who suffered a broken neck that resulted in him being diagnosed as a quadriplegic and would mean that he would spend the rest of his life confined to a hospital, unless we could provide facilities for him that would allow him to live at home with his family.
In organising a fundraising day for Tyson, you indicated to me that Men of League Foundation was willing to assist in some way and you very kindly donated unique memorabilia that we could use as auction or raffle items. On the 26th May 2007 we went ahead with our fundraiser that we called “Tyson’s Day” and held the function at the New Park Football grounds, home of the Kyogle Turkeys and the club that Tyson was playing for at the time of his accident. Many Men of League members attended and I would like to offer a special thanks to Bob Abbott, Dennis Meaney, Rod Reddy and Neil Pringle for their support on the day and to Brian Johnston and Robin Harley for their assistance prior to the event.
The Rugby League community offered tremendous support with fourteen of the NRL Clubs donating a signed club jumper each for the event, together with great support from Men of League members who are associated in other fields now such as Steve Martin and Mark Kocass who also donated marvellous prizes. The end result was that we raised $96,000 on the day and other fundraising activities brought the figure up to grand total of $120,000.
These monies have allowed us to achieve a tremendous amount in the preceding fourteen months. We have built a purpose built unit abutting Tyson’s family home that is an exact mirrored image of the spinal care unit hospital facility where Tyson was confined, together with an entertaining area for visitors. We have bought a motorised wheelchair, hydraulic shower lift, electrically operated bed and mattress and a motor vehicle that provides wheelchair carrying capability. On top of this, we have purchased air conditioning and automatic opening doors for the unit and voice activated lighting.
All of these “extras” are necessary because Tyson has no movement below the neck and operates the wheelchair with his chin, he cannot control his body temperature and should he get too hot or cold this could prove fatal, so a constant temperature must be maintained. This allows him to move around the unit, into the family home and around the extremities of the home. Tyson came home from hospital in November 2007, just before his eighteenth birthday after spending nine months in Princess Alexandra Hospital Spinal Care Unit in Brisbane. His ongoing care is 24/7 and the cost of that care is very high so we are monitoring his progress and planning other smaller functions to assist in those costs.
However, the monies already raised to provide the aforementioned facilities would not have been possible without the support of the Men of League Foundation, its members, the Rugby League community as a whole and of course the good people of Kyogle and the Northern Rivers who attended the
day.
Tyson’s family have indicated to me their everlasting gratitude to all of these people for their support and have asked me to pass on their feelings.
My personal thanks to you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
John Spackman
Trustee - Tyson Robert Alcorn Trust