The event brought together 11 children suffering from either leukaemia or aplastic anaemia and gave them the opportunity to experience the thrill of riding in a high-powered supercar. All the patients were either going through chemotherapy, waiting for a stem cell transplant or in remission. Event organiser Bradley Ainge, who was a chemotherapy patient for an auto-immune disease, said, “I know how difficult the whole process is and when I was going through that hard time, cars were a natural motivator for myself.”
He added, “The children were so excited, and I hope this proves to them that it isn’t the end of the road and to have hope for the future.”
From Ferraris to Aston Martins, Ainge brought 12 high-power supercars from clients and friends to drive the children around the Bryanston area. The children were brought together by the Sunflower Fund, an organisation built on raising awareness around life-threatening blood disorders and to educate, recruit and raise funds to build and sustain an effective South African Bone Marrow Registry as a viable source of well-informed ethnically-diverse potential bone marrow donors.
Spokesperson for the Sunflower Fund Takalani Ramaphosa said, “We love this sort of event because not a lot people get the opportunity to ride in a supercar, so it was a great experience for the children.”
Ramaphosa also added that the event gave the Sunflower Fund the chance to interact with the children they are helping, and raised much needed awareness among the general public.
