‘Overwhelming’ response for Seth
A Horsham family is a step closer to buying a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for their son after an ‘overwhelming’ show of community support.
Courtney Rolins organised a family-fun day and trivia night to raise money for a vehicle for her son, Seth Rolins-winfield, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
The degenerative disease causes muscles to break down, leading to progressive difficulty with walking and general mobility, and later on, affects breathing and the heart.
Mrs Rolins said although Seth was not solely reliant on his wheelchair yet, he would be, and her family needed to plan for the future.
She has spent the past few months pushing herself out of her comfort zone to organise a day of activities in Seth’s honour.
A Seth’s Force Community Family Fun Day at Horsham Scout Group headquarters on Saturday included live music, a barbecue, market stalls, face-painting and a jumping castle.
Later that evening, Trivia With A Twist hosted a trivia night at Horsham Table Tennis Association.
The night included an auction, with a signed guitar donated by Lee Kernaghan fetching $540.
Altogether, the activities raised $4517 towards a vehicle for Seth and his family. “We were stoked,” Mrs Rolins said. “We would have been happy with $100.
“We thought $1000 was even better, so to get this much is amazing.”
Mrs Rolins said she was nervous in the lead-up to the events because she had never organised anything on this scale before.
“I wasn’t sure if it would all come together or not,” she said.
“It was a lot of hard work but it paid off.”
Mrs Rolins thanked everyone who participated in the fundraising activities.
“It could not have gone any better,” she said.
“We had nothing but good feedback. Seth loved it and was on the go all day. We got him to draw the raffles and he was so excited. He was talking on the microphone and everything. He certainly wasn’t shy.”
Mrs Rolins said she was hoping to find a second-hand vehicle capable of being converted for wheelchair access.
“We’re hoping to find something second-hand because we are a long way off being able to afford a new vehicle,” she said.
“We still have a long way to go but it is certainly a step in the right direction.”