SYDNEY Swans premiership coach Paul Roos is helping to lead an all-star army rallying about Ballarat boy Blake Dridan. Now they are starting a call for others to join the corps.
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Blake's Army is a new charity with a difference on a difference to raise funds for bone marrow failure research and support. They will do so by boosting leaders in a mentor program, led by Roos' Performance by Design, for frontline community workers and volunteers.
The army project has been about 18 months in the making with support from a string of high-profile sports identities, including Australian cricket coach Justin Langer, media personality and player manager Liam Pickering and Australian winter Olympian Lydia Lassila.
Fifteen-year-old Blake has been battling a rare blood disorder for five years.
Blake's dad Luke Dridan said the support for Blake and the family along the journey had been incredible, both from within the Ballarat community and in sporting ranks, such as the Australian cricket team and Richmond Football Club.
He hoped this was a way to channel support and give back, working with the likes of Roos to help empower others.
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"It's pretty amazing because growing up a lot of people in that [Blake's Army] group where people I idolised and now they're doing something to help us," Dridan said.
It has been a "rough" year for Blake who spent more time in the Royal Children's Hospital the past 12 months than he had in the four years prior. Blake had three surgeries in the neck region alone last year in a period where Mr Dridan said Blake's condition almost had doctors "beat" for now as they worked to unravel what was happening.
Blake also faces blood transfusions every 28 days for the rest of his life.
Roos says Blake's passion to learn about himself helped inspire the Blake's Army Leadership program.
The Army is calling on people and businesses to donate to the charity. For every $2000 raised someone registered in the Blake's Army Reserve will be elevated to participate in the leadership program.
Those who can register include: Australian volunteer firefighters and emergency services workers, nurses and paramedics, Indigenous and remote Australia support groups and volunteers from the Salvation Army, Australian Red Cross and Lions clubs and APEX.
Participants will also take part in a series of challenges raising money to combat blood cancers, such as research via the Maddie Riewoldt Foundation.
The leadership program starts in March. Register now: blakesarmy.org.au.
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