Leave a gift in your Will

Geoff lived on a cattle station ‘Maitland’ located at Einasleigh, approximately two hours’ drive north of Charters Towers. Although Geoff never had any children himself, he strongly believed “no child deserved to be sick as they had not yet had a chance to live their life”.

It was this belief that led Geoff to leave a substantial gift to the Children’s Hospital Foundation in his Will. When Geoff passed away in 2018 his generous gift was used to fund research into immunotherapy, brain cancer, and cystic fibrosis. It also helped fund state-of the-art 3D surgical navigation equipment and a Digital PET-CT scanner, making Queensland Children’s Hospital the first paediatric hospital in Australia to offer this cutting-edge digital technology.

At the age of two, Cheryl’s daughter Amber was involved in a car crash which left her with severe head injuries and a lifetime disability. She spent over three months in the Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, as well as countless outpatient visits over the following few years.

“My daughter is now 35 years old and is living her best life thanks to the amazing doctors and nurses and the support of the Foundation. I am grateful every day to still have her in my life. I will never know the people who generously donated to the Foundation to provide my daughter with lifesaving equipment and well-trained staff, but they helped save her so I could enjoy a lifetime with her. I have decided to leave a gift in my Will to the Foundation as my legacy to help save other children in the future. It gives me a sense of peace and contentment to know that I have completed the pay it forward cycle and that my life has benefitted others,” says Cheryl.

Cheryl knows the only reason her daughter is still alive today is because of the incredible care and treatment her daughter received when she was younger. She hopes she will be able to help someone else, going through something similar, by leaving a gift in her Will.

Kylie is a research physiotherapist in the Orthopaedics Department at Queensland Children’s Hospital, where she sees first-hand the impact of Children’s Hospital Foundation funding.

Knowing the difference research makes to the lives of sick kids, Kylie has left a gift in her Will to the Foundation to help us fund the research that’s needed for faster diagnoses, better treatments and ultimately cures for some of the most devastating childhood illnesses and injuries.

Bruce has experienced firsthand the essential work of the Children’s Hospital Foundation and knows what a difference a gift in his Will would make to sick kids and their families.

Bruce’s life story is one of extraordinary resilience and courage, after he left an abusive family situation when he was only 12 years old, seeking solace with an uncle who lived close by. He spent a day shovelling coal to rustle up some money to purchase a train ticket and hopped on the first train to Sydney.

He arrived at Kings Cross early one morning, with no plans for accommodation or food, and found himself homeless. After a few weeks, a family noticed that he was without any family or a home, and took him in.

“I will be forever grateful to this family, as they saved me from a dangerous, unknowing and distressing time where I was often hungry and sad,” Bruce said.

When Bruce married at 21, he had already served in the Vietnam War, and gained an apprenticeship, having learnt the value of money at such a young age.

After speaking with a friend, he decided to invest in the stock market, purchasing shares in a company which is today known as Rio Tinto. Bruce purchased the shares for 20 cents each. Bruce went on to buy a large cattle property in New South Wales and settled down to live a happy life with his wife and son. When his wife passed in 2017, he sold the property and moved to Queensland, where his son and grandchildren reside.

Despite the years of hardship that Bruce endured during his youth, he feels that his life has been rich and varied and counts his blessings to have had a healthy family with a son, daughter-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren.

He has decided to leave a gift in his Will to the Children’s Hospital Foundation as he now wishes to give back to society which has been so good to him.