As Lisa Webb embarks on her first season as an AFLW Senior Coach, she won't need to look far for inspiration when she has her ‘special boy’ Ollie to look at in awe.
At birth, Webb’s son Ollie was diagnosed with Pendred syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes early hearing loss in children.
Now an 8-year-old, Ollie has two cochlea implants to help him hear.
“He was born with Pendred syndrome, he has really poor hearing in both of his ears,” Webb told 6PR Afternoons.
“He had minimal hearing to start with, but with flights or sickness it was always just going to get worse.
“He started off with hearing aids at six weeks old which is just mind-blowing, because myself and my husband are both carriers for (Pendred syndrome) but we didn’t know.
“We had never had it before in the family…it was really challenging.”
The first sign of a hearing issue came when Ollie failed a newborn screening test at just three days old, something Webb was informed happens at times after a caesarean birth.
Not thinking much of it at the time, it wasn’t until a moment that played out in hospital that hit home what Ollie was going through.
“We had a secondary test a few days later and he failed it again,” Webb said.
“It wasn’t until the nurses came in with some food and I vividly remember the plate dropping on the floor.
“He just didn’t move, he didn’t wake up and I thought ‘okay maybe there is more to this.’”
With Ollie’s hearing journey still ongoing, Webb can’t help but be filled with pride as she watches him navigate his way through life.
“At two and a half years old he had his first cochlea implant which is actually just incredible, all the technology there,” Webb said.
“Six months later he got the other one. He basically had bilateral hearing loss and now he’s got cochlea implants which is a journey in itself.
“I feel like we are really lucky - he doesn’t stop chatting, he is incredible at what he does and he is a really special boy.
“A lot of the time you don’t necessarily see or understand what he’s going through but he’s a true champ at what he does. He is very inspiring to me.”
The challenges continued in 2018 when Webb made her AFLW debut for Fremantle.
Webb was in hospital with a sick Ollie just days before running out in front of over 40,000 people to take on Collingwood at Optus Stadium as she balanced life as a mum, teacher and footballer.
“The week leading up to my first game…I got the call and was in hospital with my son who was a bit unwell,” Webb said.
“I ended up playing my first game in front of 42,000 people, it still blows my mind.
“I don’t forget about it, but I just go, ‘did that actually happen’, and on the same day I bought a house too – a lot happened really, really quickly.”
Webb joked that the cochlea implants did however give Ollie a unique advantage when it comes to his three-year-old brother Leo.
“When his little brother Leo cries he flicks them off,” Webb said.
“He just pops them off and says I don’t need to listen to this!”
Fremantle's AFLW season commences on Sunday 3 September with an RAC Derby clash against West Coast at Fremantle Oval.
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