By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
WHEN Nikki Sleep is in the middle of running up and down the MCG steps during next month’s annual Stadium Stomp, she will have one person on her mind – her son.
After Seth Sleep, 7, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012, family friends didn’t hesitated in giving their time to help raise money for the young boy and the Leukaemia Foundation.
The Stadium Stomp is no different with several of Nikki’s friends set to join her in completing the difficult stair climbing challenge as a team, aptly called Stomping for Seth.
“When we decided to do the Stadium Stomp, I said I’d be happy to raise $100 and in a week I had seven other mums willing to do it with me and in a week we’d raised well over $1000,” she said.
“We have a lot of friends wanting to get on board. Seth’s story has managed to touch a lot of people.”
In case running up and down the MCG wasn’t enough, Nikki is also organising a Masquerade Ball fundraiser a few weeks prior to the Stadium Stomp, with the help of her husband Simon.
“When you ask people to donate money to something like the Stadium Stomp, there’s a page to donate money just using Facebook but people tend to like to have a fun night out and donate at the same time,” Nikki said.
“I decided with some of my friends to organise a fun night out and raise money at the same time because people seem to be happier with that.”
The Masquerade Ball will take place on Saturday 21 June at the Oakgrove Community Centre in Narre Warren South, and guests will be required to wear a mask.
A raffle will be drawn on the night while door prizes and a range of games will also be undertaken throughout the night, with all funds going straight to the Leukaemia Foundation.
Seth is well past the halfway mark of his chemotherapy and is responding reasonably well to the treatment, but there are constant challenges.
Last year Seth was forced to miss more than 60 days of school.
“Seth is doing well, he’s back in hospital on Tuesday for chemo, which will be increased to 100 per cent,” Nikki said last week.
“Seth’s on oral medication, every night he has to take chemo tablets and once a week he takes a another tablet, they start at 50 per cent and the aim is to get the dosage as high as they can.
“Seth’s been in a maintenance program over 12 months, and just three weeks ago he has been increased from 75 per cent to 100 per cent.
“He wakes up every morning nauseous, the chemo makes him sick but you’d never know he’s unwell; by the time he gets to school you’d never know he was a sick boy to look at him.”
It’s Seth resilience that acts as a continual source of strength for his parents, something which Nikki will definitely draw on when she’s running up and down the MCG in a few weeks.
For more information on the Masquerade Ball contact Nikki at nikkisleep@hotmail.com.
