The below email was received from Fremantle fan Jessica Peat, who emailed the Fremantle Dockers Foundation requesting some assistance from the club to make her husband’s birthday ‘extra’ special.

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Thomas was four-and-a-half months old when we noticed he had a right eye flicker. We took him to our local hospital, who provided no answers and basically said that he was fine and what we were seeing was quite normal.

That answer didn't sit well with us as parents and we decided to travel three and a half hours to Sydney and present to the emergency department of Sydney Children's hospital the following morning.

By that afternoon Thomas had undergone an ultrasound, an assessment by the neurology team and other basic blood and urine tests.

He was also admitted to the hospital so an MRI could be carried out first thing Wednesday morning.

We weren't prepared for the news we were about to receive, quite honestly we were in ‘la la land’ from our wedding we had only celebrated two weeks earlier.

At 11.30am my husband Daniel and I were called out of the recovery waiting room and told the devastating news that our baby boy had bilateral optical gliomas and four other tumors that were present in his brain.

Fast forward to Friday morning where Thomas was scheduled to have brain surgery and the placement of a Hickman line (this line gives direct access to for the giving of chemotherapy and the taking of bloods) and spent the night recovery in the ICU.

We then spent the next four weeks by Thomas' side in Sydney Children's Hospital for monitoring and the commencement of Chemotherapy.

Thomas also lost a lot of weight and refused to feed due to where the tumor is in his brain, which also meant Daniel and I needed to make the decision to have a nasogastic tube placed which he is now fed from.

Our journey started two and half months ago and the finish line isn't until chemo ceases next June.

We have had an abundance of support from our community, both near and far and it has made it that much easier to survive.

We’ve had family be on call to help assist cooking for us as we are away from home for Thomas' chemotherapy two nights a week.  

 Thomas Peat in Sydney Children's Hospital. 

The support from friends and family has allowed Daniel to be with Thomas and I the whole time.

Daniel has been in hospital every night by my and Thomas’ side. He sleeps on a recliner and does all the coffee runs, while I manage the hospital side of things. He then gets home and cooks and cleans for us.

That was why I decided to email the club to see if there was anything they could do to help me give him something extra special for his birthday this year.

I was speechless when I received an email back only days later offering a Freo Dockers jumper signed by the players and Ross Lyon.

I just wanted to say thank you so much to the Fremantle Dockers Foundation who kindly helped to make Daniel’s recent birthday extra special.

It was such a surprise for him to receive a wonderful gift from his loved team and gave him a big old smile.

Thomas and Daniel Peat watching Fremantle take on Geelong last Sunday. 

It was even better when we got to sit around over the weekend out of hospital as a family and watch the team play with Daniel dressed in his brand new jumper, it was a moment our family will cherish.

Thomas has a 90 per cent rate of survivability and a huge 60 per cent chance of regrowth and relapse. 

Thomas is a happy and smiling bundle of joy and anyone who meets him loves him. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and a massive thank you again to the Fremantle Dockers Foundation.

Donate now to the Fremantle Dockers Foundation this financial year