Friendship leads to fundraising for Mason

Cupcakes at Maranguka for Cecil Towney Jnr., Sandra Kelly and Vivian Prince. Photo Supplied

Friendships forged in adversity can be life changing and that is the sort of bond shared by two nine-year-old boys from Bourke.

One is Mason Hardy, who was recently diagnosed with leukaemia and the other is his best friend Finley Styles. Although Finley and his family now live more than 720 kilometres away in Canberra, he was still thinking how he could help his friend.

Finley’s mum Kirstie Styles said when they got the news about Mason’s illness, Finley wanted to do something. So with his mum, he came up with a fundraising mission, a GoFundMe page on Facebook and a big plan.

“Finley and Mason were in the same class together at Bourke Public School from Kindergarten to Year 2,” Kirstie said.

“They played soccer and were in swimming together. We moved to Canberra last year, but it was when Fin caught up with Mason’s cousin that he found out he had cancer.

“He told me he wanted to help his friend so his idea was that he would ride around part of Lake Burley Griffin and I could sit on the side of the lake and ask people for money.

“I suggested a GoFundMe page might be a little bit easier, so that’s what we’ve done.”

The GoFundMe page was set up, and the plan was for Finley to do the ride in early September, but last week he broke his foot, so Kirstie said it will be up to his orthopaedic specialist to decide when he will be able to get on the bike and pedal.

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