Heppell’s beard raises $50,000

CAPTAIN of the Essendon Football Club and former Leongatha resident Dyson Heppell shaved his beard off to raise funds for scleroderma research on Friday.
Mr Heppell, ambassador for Scleroderma Victoria, raised more than $50,000.
Scleroderma is an auto-immune disease that has no cure. Mr Heppell’s family has a direct connection to the disease and he has used his beard to raise funds for much needed research.
“Thank you to all those that have donated and supported us,” Mr Heppell said.
“The response and donations have been overwhelming and humbling.
“The amounts raised will go directly into research and help to find a cure and make the lives of those that suffer from scleroderma so much better.”
Mr Heppell was recently moved by six year old Harrison Pennicott, who has the disease and is the youngest known sufferer of scleroderma in Australia. Only Harrison and one other in the world have his type of scleroderma.
Mr Heppell said, “As is now widely known, I had to grow a beard as I lost a bet. Originally I only had to grow it until Christmas 2017, but kept it on.
“Having met young Harrison and his older brother Miller and having a kick of the footy at Essendon, I thought now might be a good time to shave it off and raise some much needed funds for research into scleroderma.
“I can’t tell you how many people will be glad to see the back of it.”

Happy days: Essendon footballer Dyson Heppell had his beard shaved by his little mate, Warranwood Primary School student Harrison Pennicott, Australia’s youngest person diagnosed with scleroderma.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jul 3 2018. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry