North Berwick Rugby Club have earned praise for helping 10-year-old member Ollie McMillan fundraise for his Marfan Syndrome charity.
Last October Ollie had two consecutive Pneumothorax which is a collapsed lung. An operation and seven titanium staples followed.
He was diagnosed in January with the rare condition which has required him to quit playing rugby.
But it has not stopped his resilience or determination to charity fundraise and draw attention to Marfan and the club have rallied round.
Ollie’s P6 rugby coaches and team mates at the club helped raise funds with an East Lothian three peaks hike while Ollie is tackling Ben Nevis later this month.
Ollie arranged a virtual race night where the whole club supported sponsored races, bought horses and raised more money.
In total just over £5,000 from a £1,000 target has been raised with half of that coming from the North Berwick rugby community.
Dad Gib, said: “We are grateful for their support, but even more grateful in how they care and help Ollie out with fundraising. They keep him involved in each of his clubs. He coaches the P3 rugby team, (is a) recently appointed analysis drone flying coach for p6 and still plays football. All this to keep a young lad involved with the club and his friends.
“Our club is more than just rugby. Dan Carter in a podcast once said “better people make better All Blacks”, we certainly have better people at our club too.”
For his efforts Ollie’s been nominated as a young fundraiser of the year with JustGiving and is due to head for Old Trafford for Manchester United’s Captains Lounge when they tackle Burnley on 27 April.
Evergreen sports journalist. Previously published in many publications around the world. Send me your local sports stories. billlothian1008@gmail.com
