By Casey Neill
Singing the Richmond Tigers theme song brought her brother out of a coma, says a Dandenong North woman.
Jennifer Bearham describes herself as a diehard fan of the yellow and black and was bursting with excitement after the AFL side’s qualifying final win over Geelong at the MCG on Friday 8 October.
“I hugged a stranger in the crowd,” she said.
“I wasn’t with my family but I wasn’t alone at all.”
The club will play either West Coast or Greater Western Sydney in a preliminary final on Saturday 23 September.
They’ll be vying for a place in the Saturday 30 September Grand Final and a shot at this year’s AFL Premiership.
“I’ve got tickets for the Grand Final guaranteed,” Jennifer told the Journal.
Richmond won its last premiership on her birthday back in 1980.
She was hoping for another to mark her 50th, but will settle for a win a few days after her 54th birthday on Wednesday 27 September.
It’d brighten what’s been a tough year.
“I have a spinal injury, a workplace injury from years ago,” Jennifer said.
“It got worse, I started having lots of falls. The last fall caused my left foot to become paralysed.
“Even my little walker has got tigers stickers all over it.
“They’ve given me so much joy.
“It’s the highlight of my year.”
Her eldest son is in the Richmond cheer squad and her brother is a life member.
“He was in a coma from a workplace injury at a prison – he was a prison officer,” she said.
“I actually woke him from his coma by singing the Richmond club song to him.”
Jennifer said she held off giving birth until the day after the home-and-away season.
When she worked at a school she recruited students to support the yellow and black.
“It’s a passion,” she said.
“The camaraderie, the belief, the hope …
“I’ve been there through all the bad times.”
Why is the Tiger Army so passionate?
“Richmond was originally a very working-class suburb,” Jennifer said.
“My grandparents lived in Richmond. My dad followed Richmond.
“It’s just so special to our family.
“We’re living it, breathing it.”
A friend of Jennifer’s passed away last year and she and her son placed a Richmond scarf and a T-shirt signed by captain Trent Cotchin on his coffin.
“I didn’t realise but they didn’t put it with him when they cremated him,” she said.
They were returned earlier this month.
“My son wore the scarf and I wore the T-shirt,” Jennifer said.
“It’s really special.
“I think they were in the big grandstand in the sky.”
