St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt was at the height of his powers by the time the 2010 AFL season rolled around.
After being taken with the first overall selection in the 2000 draft, Riewoldt had ascended into the top tier of AFL stars over the next decade.
He was rated the No.2 player in the competition by veteran journalist Mike Sheahan in his annual top-50 list, behind only Chris Judd, and his team had just begun to hit its straps, having been narrowly beaten in the 2009 grand final by an all-conquering Geelong side.
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Little did he know that year would change his life forever.
When Riewoldt’s younger sister, Maddie, was diagnosed with a rare condition called Aplastic Anaemia that year, the Saints skipper was left stumped.
“I didn’t know a thing about it,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“When Maddie was diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia, I was very, very naïve (about the condition).”
He explained how the word ‘Anaemia’ immediately made him think of ‘anaemic’ and he assumed the condition had something to do with iron.
Despite the odds being stacked against her, Maddie Riewoldt put up a tremendous fight. She’d live for another five years before the illness claimed her in February 2015 at just 26 years of age.
Riewoldt admitted that the lack of knowledge around the condition had left his sister annoyed as she fought on bravely.
“That was one of the main drivers for Maddie to be an advocate for the cause because when people told her she had Aplastic Anaemia, that’s a really serious illness and there’s a 50 per cent chance of survival, but it just didn’t register with people,” he recalled.
“That made her really frustrated and because it was so under-resourced and people were so ignorant about it, there was a lot of work that we could do immediately to rectify that situation.”
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Before she lost her battle, Maddie did everything possible to raise awareness for the condition, a cause her family took up for her after her death.
At that point, her brother’s illustrious career was winding down. Gone were the deep finals runs he’d enjoyed. Many of his best teammates had moved on.
Riewoldt admits Maddie’s fight helped him keep life in perspective in what is an otherwise tough time in a professional athlete’s life.
“I’d never been faced with anything like that before,” he said.
“I’d had a pretty blessed career, and this really put a lot of perspective in for all of us.
“At a time where my career was coming to an end – and that can be a very challenging period for any footballer or any athlete – I felt like with what we’d been through in the two years earlier, my perspective on what was important was clearly better rounded than what it otherwise would’ve been.
“Unfortunately, these things happen, and people face these sorts of challenges every day and I think it’s always just about what you do with them that matters.”
A few months after Maddie’s death, the Riewoldt family started a foundation called ‘Maddie’s Vision’, with the aim of raising awareness for Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes in the hope that increased research would allow for breakthroughs in the area.
The impact of the foundation has been astounding.
Since its inception in June 2015, Maddie’s Vision has raised over $9.5 million in committed funds.
The foundation has been able to thrive due to a number of partnerships, including a founding one with the St Kilda Football Club. However, another initiative is one that Riewoldt admits left him staggered.
Balcon Group, one of Maddie’s Vision’s partners, has donated a block of land in Melbourne’s south-east, allowing another one of the foundation’s partners, Fairhaven Homes, to build a fully-furnished three-bedroom house which will be auctioned off for charity.
Having previously raised $330,000 with a similar auction in 2019, this year, Maddie’s Vision is hoping to hit the $1 million mark.
The collaboration between Fairhaven, Balcon Group and Maddie’s Vision is one that Riewoldt admits will be “life-changing” for both the foundation and the winner of the eventual auction.
“These sorts of partnerships, they actually blow your mind, they really do,” Riewoldt said.
“Fairhaven approached Maddie’s Vision in 2019 through my brother who works in the same industry with an idea and that idea was to auction off a house that they would donate, I mean how generous could you possibly be?
“That was incredible and then this time around Fairhaven brought Balcon into the conversation and donated the land as well, so now the house and the land are being donated for the auction, of which 100 per cent of the funds are going to come to Maddie’s Vision and 100 per cent of those funds are going to go to medical research for Bone Marrow Failure.
“It’s just amazing generosity at times, it’s pretty overwhelming when you think about it because there was no link between the people at Fairhaven and the people at Balcon.
“They’ve just done it because they want to make a difference and they are making a big difference and it’s incredible.”
Maddie’s Vision has become one of the country’s most well-known foundations, particularly in the AFL world, but Riewoldt admits he had no idea the impact that the foundation would one day have.
“We were a real family and friends-orientated, sitting around kitchen table saying, ‘what do we do?’ type situation,” he recalled.
“Maddie was really determined to be an advocate for the cause when she got healthy, but when that didn’t eventuate it was our responsibility to take up that fight for her.
“A lot of the growth has been organic, but the majority of it has come through sheer hard work and determination.
“We’ve constantly had our drive and enthusiasm reinforced by the people that we’ve met along the journey: the people and the families that have been suffering.
“There was a lot of low-hanging fruit to begin with in the research space because it was pretty under-resourced, but it’s been an incredible journey and we’re really proud of what’s been achieved to date.”
The changes made in the Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome community have already been evident since the foundation’s inception.
“It has shifted, particularly for those that have been faced with the same situation,” he said.
“Over the course of Maddie’s Vision’s existence, people that have been diagnosed subsequently, they’ve looked at Maddie’s Vision as a bit of a pillar for them from a support point of view and knowing there’s people there fighting the fight for them.
“We were fortunate as a family that we had the platform through AFL footy to be able to really drive it.
“A lot of the conversations that we’ve had with people suffering and their families have fuelled us to keep going because they feel that there is a level of comfort and support knowing that there’s people out there fighting for you.”
Maddie Riewoldt has also become a household name in the AFL community, with the annual match between her brother’s Saints and her cousin Jack Riewoldt’s Richmond side now termed ‘Maddie’s Match’.
“She would love that,” Riewoldt said.
“Maddie was all about celebrating the footy, she was my No.1 supporter throughout my career, she was so proud of Jack, so she would be really, really proud.
“It was always her favourite game. She always hoped that the Saints won, and Jack kicked a bag of goals, and it probably hasn’t gone that way in the last few years.
“It’s a nice moment in what is – it’s a business now, Maddie’s Vision – but those little moments are nice because they are at the core of who Maddie was.
“She was a pretty shy girl at times, and I think she would have a hard time comprehending the impact she’s had on so many people, but she would be very proud.”
The foundation has also had one major benefit for the Riewoldt family: keeping the spirit and memory of Maddie well and truly alive in the seven years since her death.
“It’s hard to get your head around. People say ‘time heals all wounds’, but I don’t really view it that way because it’s so long since you’ve had the opportunity to see them,” Riewoldt said.
“There’s a conversation every day about Maddie and her legacy, and to know that what we and Maddie went through seven years ago has led to the change that is being made in this space is a nice comfort when dealing with something pretty traumatic.”
The auction for the house donated to Maddie’s Vision will take place on March 26 at 80 Athenaeum Avenue in Clyde North, Victoria.