Margie Maccoll
It was a day packed with laughter and tears, hosted by TV presenter Karl Stefanovic and glamorised with a lineup of celebrities including famous actor Travis Fimmel, Olympian Dawn Fraser and singer Russell Morris that came together to raise funds for Smart Pups Assistance Dogs which transform the lives of kids with disabilities.
The event raised $70,000 which was buoyed by a cheque presented on the day by Ninderry MP Dan Purdie of more than $93,000 of grant funding from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.
Eleven years ago Patricia McAlister started Smart Pups in her garage when a friend came to her to ask could she train a dog for a child, the audience at Sunshine Beach Surf Club heard. When Patricia found out you couldn’t train pups for disabled children in Queensland that led to four years of fighting to get the law changed through parliament.
Smart pups now has 40 volunteers and has trained 331 dogs for 331 children with disabilities.
The charity specialises in training Labradors and Golden Retrievers, carefully bred and selected for their roles as assistance dogs. These Smart Pups can be trained to detect low blood sugar and seizures up to 10 minutes before they occur, use scent tracking to find children who abscond and assist children in wheelchairs to open doors, pick up dropped objects and more. The pups provide a life-saving and life-changing benefit to their child and their family.
Patricia told guests it cost $50,000 to raise and train a smart pup and they had a huge wait list.
When Karl Stefanovic asked Olympian Dawn Fraser why she was patron of the Smart Pups organisation she said she just fell in love with them.
“I’m a German shepherd owner and patron of the German Shepherd Dog Council of Australia,“ she said.
“I just love dogs. When I saw Patricia and what they did for the children I just fell in love with them. I don’t own a Smart pup, I just think what trainers do is fantastic.
“If you see one these kids with a smart pup they’re just so happy and they have a happy life, it’s just fantastic.“
Travis Fimmel, known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series Vikings and star of Boy Swallow Universe, Warcraft, Dune Prophecy and numerous other productions, was described by Karl as the most handsome man in Australia and a world class actor. Travis thrilled guests by speaking to them at their tables and posing for photographs.
Australian businessman, sailor and founder of Loyal Foundation children’s charity Anthony Bell told an entertaining and long-winded tale on winning the 2011 Sydney to Hobart in a race to the finish line on yacht Perpetual Loyal coming in just 100m ahead of Wild Oats and his friend, Karl Stefanovic’s experience on the boat.
Anthony joked how Karl missed the crew training prior to the race, was overcome with sea sickness during the rough conditions which led to him missing the intended live crosses to television during the journey which aimed to raise money for his charity.
Both of Anthony’s daughters were born premature, which taught him a lot about need for hospitals for life-saving equipment, he said. He established his children’s charity to provide that equipment and has to date raised $12million, he told the audience.
After listening to the stories from Smart pup volunteers and recipients Anthony pledged $10,000 to Smart pups.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Smart pup recipients told stories of their children’s disabilities and the impact on their lives of their Smart Pups.
Hamish who was diagnosed with autism at two and a half, can get very overwhelmed, his mother Diana told the audience.
“To have support with this dog is so amazing. It’s something we couldn’t give him. For us it has changed our lives.
“Hamish was born in a lot of discomfort. Years later we discovered his joints were dislocating. We just wanted a dog that would make our child feel safe and he did. When Hamish dislocated his knee in front of him, Boots lay on top of him and allowed him to remobilise that joint before I stood him up.
“Hamish was born not understanding how much pain he goes through because that’s his experience of life. He does stand up on dislocated joints but Boots understood to stop Hamish. Boots could see this and calm him, that’s what he needed in that moment. We learnt from Boots. We learnt how to deal with that. The beauty is that it gets him to community and gets us to community.“
Diana said Boots had enabled her to go back to work and allowed Hamish to go to school. “He made us feel safe,“ she said.
Sunshine Beach Surf Club general manager Julie Strudwick who organised the event introduced her daughter Tennile and grandson Elijah. The family has been fundraising for 8-9 months for a Smart pup for Elijah and their fundraising journey ended last Friday with the event.
Elijah, 4, has level three autism, global developmental delay (GDD), and an intellectual disability. He is classed as non-verbal, which exacerbates his anxiety and poses significant challenges in stressful situations. Smart Pup trainee ‘Chips’ is currently being trained to be Elijah’s emotional anchor during these anxious moments, potentially saving his life by preventing him from harm in dangerous settings.
“Elijah is big danger to himself. He has no recognition of safety and runs away. We’re hoping he’ll get the help he needs from a pup,“ Tennile said.
Four days a week Tennile drives two hours each way from their home in Dysart, a rural community 240km from Rockhampton, to Emerald for Elijah to attend four different therapies and the family can see the improvements in Elijah from it.
Julie said she hoped a Smart Pup would also help Tennile.
“Tennile is always there for Elijah,“ Julie said. “I hope Tennile gets a bit of help. It’s mentally and physically trying to see what she goes through day in and day out.“
The event raised enough money to provide the funding needed for Elijah’s pup and realised their aim to raise enough to fund several pups.
Also supporting the event held last week were former Wallabies rugby union player Rod McCall, and former Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer Michael O’Connor and businesses including Beach Break caterers, Gathered wines, Heads of Noosa, Dr Felicity Adams, Travla Beer, Asahi Premium Beverages, and the Sunshine Beach Surf Club.
For more on Smart Pups visit smartpups.org.au
