Fox FM’s Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley with Berwick’s Julie Cini and Zarlee after the radio station donated $20,000 to the SMAAA.By Callan Date
A BERWICK mother choked back tears last week as three years of hard work helping establish the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Association of Australia (SMAAA) was rewarded with a $20,000 donation from FOX FM.
Julie Cini gave little thought of receiving any money when she applied to Matt Tilley’s Gotcha Calls Charity CD giveaway.
But when Mr Tilley – famous for his prank calls to unsuspecting listeners – called to let her know her application had been successful, she was struggling to take it all in.
“My heart was just beating out of my chest,” Ms Cini said.
“He started a conversation with me and asked me to explain my story and a bit about SMAAA.”
So heartbreaking is that story that Mr Tilley, along with many other listeners of The Matt and Jo Show, broke down and started to cry.
The News was first in contact with Ms Cini in June when she spoke out about the death of her first daughter, Montanna, to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) at the age of 10 months.
SMA is a rare genetic disease which causes the muscles to dramatically weaken to the point where the sufferer can not cough or swallow effectively.
Tragedy struck the family soon after when Ms Cini’s husband Ross Brownlaw was killed in a car crash.
But Ms Cini has stayed strong for her one-year-old daughter Zarlee, who also has SMA, and was given a massive boost with the donation.
“It has made our association go from a relatively unknown association to something mid-size,” she said.
“It has been absolutely fantastic. But since then the news gets better because we have had two people come forward to pledge $10,000 each.”
Fox FM has so far donated just over $70,000 of CD sales to various charities and organisations.
Mr Tilley said Ms Cini and her SMAAA group were chosen because the story was so touching.
“She made us cry,” he said.
“Such a sad story from such an amazingly strong woman.
“As a dad, I cannot imagine what it would be like to watch your children die.”
Ms Cini said the money would be used to buy several Cough Assist Machines, which help babies who have SMA breathe easier.
“Families across Australia will benefit from this donation which will vastly improve their quality of life,” she said.
For more information or to help the SMAAA cause, contact Julie Cini on 8786 7521 or visit www.smaaustralia.com.
