Melbourne Victory and the TAC have once again teamed-up to help raise awareness of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and the ongoing effects of road trauma.
Melbourne Victory and the TAC have once again teamed-up to help raise awareness of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and the ongoing effects of road trauma.
For the second successive year, Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners will play for the Epworth ABI Cup on Thursday, November 18 at AAMI Park.
The game serves as a fundraiser for Epworth Hospital-s ABI Unit. All monies raised will assist in the purchase of critical technology and equipment for patients in the Unit.
Melbourne Victory Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Miles said, “Melbourne Victory is a proud supporter of the TAC and the ABI Cup and we hope we can take the message about road trauma to a far broader audience through the Epworth ABI Cup.”
“This is the second year we-ve been involved and it truly is a great cause and one that we-ll continue to support moving forward.”
“The support the TAC and the Epworth Hospital give to ABI patient-s is nothing short of fantastic and I-m sure without their help, so many people would be far worse off.” Miles added.
Alan Kinkade, Group Chief Executive of Epworth HealthCare agrees, “We are thrilled that Melbourne Victory and the TAC are once again getting behind this very worthy cause by bringing the ABI Cup match to the fans of these two great teams,”
A fundraising breakfast was held on Wednesday 17 November where Melbourne Victory Coach, Ernie Merrick and Captain, Kevin Muscat were joined by their Central Coast Mariners counterparts, Graham Arnold and Alex Wilkinson to preview the Epworth ABI Cup at AAMI Park.
Head of Community Relations of the TAC, Phil Reed, Deputy Commissioner of Victoria Police, Ken Lay and Director of Rehabilitation at Epworth HealthCare, Professor John Olver spoke at the breakfast about first-hand experiences of road trauma and its devastating impact on our community.
TAC client Joshua De Silva shared his story (click here for more) and will toss the coin prior to Thursday night-s game. The 20 year-old sustained an ABI in March this year when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and crashed into a tree in regional Victoria.
Approximately every four days, somebody in Victoria suffers a severe brain injury in a road crash, which results in profound and irreversible changes to their lives. There are currently over 1,200 Victorians living with an acquired brain injury from a road accident. An ABI is most likely to occur between the ages of 15 and 34 with prevalence rates higher for males than females.
Epworth CEO, Mr Kinkade said, “We believe that the ABI Cup is a good fit for Melbourne Victory given that their fan base is largely young males between the ages of 18 to 25. Sadly, it is this age group that continues to be over-represented in road trauma statistics.”
The ABI Cup match starts at 7.30pm, with a curtain-raiser between teams from Victoria Police and Epworth Healthcare kicking-off at 4:45pm.
Tickets can be purchased from ticketek.com.au, via phone on 136 100 or at the gate.
