First-year player Brett Bewley relished his chance to honour some of WA’s bravest young children at the 2019 AJ Diamond Club Bravery Awards, which were presented at Cockburn ARC on Wednesday.
The running midfielder said he loved having the opportunity to take part in the presentation of the awards, which recognise the bravest young patients at Fiona Stanley and Rockingham General hospitals from the previous 12 months.
Bewley was paired with three-year-old Max Moore, who had to undergo numerous procedures for idiopathic childhood nephrotic syndrome at Fiona Stanley since he was two.
The 24-year-old said he had an outlook of wanting to give back after taking the long road to the AFL.
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“Obviously, coming from the background that I’ve had, playing in the VFL, you don’t really get the opportunity to give back to the community as much as you do in this environment,” Bewley said.
“To see these kids and to try and make a difference in Max’s life and see the smiles on his family’s face today, it meant a lot to me.
“Today, I just wanted to make him feel comfortable and try and make the experience as enjoyable as possible. He’s been through a lot as a three-year-old, so I just wanted to make him feel comfortable, that was the main objective.”
Bewley said that events such as the Bravery Awards allowed players to get away from the hardness of AFL football.
“Off-field and on-field are two different things,” Bewley said.
“Obviously, I have a bit of a soft spot for kids, so I like to make them happy and see them smile and have a bit of fun.”
The Bravery Awards have been supported by the AJ Diamond Club since 2013 and have been an annual feature on the Fremantle Football Club’s calendar since the club’s first year in the AFL in 1995.
