By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Motorsport driver Jimmy Vernon was powered by special motivation during the Australian Production Cars series at Sandown this month.
During the three-day event, Vernon’s helmet featured a picture of 11-year-old Bella, who is being treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at Monash Children’s Hospital.
Vernon is supporting charity Kids with Cancer Foundation, which helps Bella and her parents who live in Bairnsdale – more than 250 kilometres from the hospital.
Thanks to the charity, Bella was given a wig during chemotherapy.
She and her family are avid motor-racing fans, but she’s had to miss outings to her speedway since her January diagnosis.
Under the Kids with Cancer banner, Vernon won the opening two rounds in Sydney and Brisbane.
In the meantime, he has featured a different child battling cancer on his helmet, and invited the kids and families for a day trackside with him and his crew.
“When I see the enthusiastic smiles on their faces at the racetrack, when I know I am making a difference in their lives, it means the world to me,” Vernon says.
“To be in a position to show the family a fun day out enjoying the sunshine and fast cars, it’s a feeling that words can’t describe.”
His team pleaded 20 per cent of corporate sponsorship funding to Kids with Cancer Foundation in 2022.
All donations go towards Kids with Cancer’s financial support to families, cancer research, care packs, wigs and critical hospital salaries and infrastructure.
Details: kidswithcancer.org.au
