After months of appointments, hospital stays and procedures, an Albany seven-year-old had a smile you couldn’t wipe away last week when he was selected to run out with his favourite AFL team at Optus Stadium.
Cody de Vos donned the purple and white alongside the likes of Fremantle stars Jordan Clark, Luke Jackson and Mason Cox to take to the ground with the Dockers before their blockbuster clash with the Sydney Swans.
Cody, who has spent much of this year fighting the dual battles of severe kidney stones and the effects of delayed appendicitis discovery, was stoked to be picked for the Starlight Purple Haze fixture.
One of six children selected for the 24th edition of the special game, the John Calvin School Year 2 student shared lunch with the Dockers on Tuesday before running out with the team to face the Swans on Thursday wearing training shirts designed by children from the Starlight Express Room at Perth Children’s Hospital.
He was joined by his parents and two of his siblings to enjoy the thrills of the game from the luxury of a VIP box, with the night made even sweeter by the Dockers’ stunning come-from-behind 15.21 (111) to 10.13 (73) win in the top-of-the-table clash.
“Cody got to join in with the singing of the song in the clubroom, and then doing all the signing and the photographs, and it was just an incredible experience for him,” mum Abby de Vos said.
“He conked out in the car on the way home to where we were staying that night, but the next day when we were driving back to Albany he was playing that song Best Day of My Life the whole way.
“He had such a great time and he’s just still buzzing.”
Although soccer is his first love, Cody found a soft spot for the Dockers after bonding with ruckman Sean Darcy during a game of FIFA on a visit to PCH.
Ms de Vos said the experience was brilliant for the whole family after a harrowing year of constant hospital stays and missing important occasions to support Cody’s treatment at PCH.
“We have had so so much support throughout the whole ordeal, and the highlight obviously was the the Starlight Dockers experience — that topped it off but it’s so much bigger than that, there is so much more that went into it to become to that moment,” she said.
“Our family, our church community, all of the incredible staff at the hospital here and in Perth, Ronald McDonald House, Starlight, everyone has just absolutely rallied behind us, it’s been mind-blowing to be honest.
“It just shows that when things get hard, people gather and people help.”
Thankfully Cody is doing much better now and is back at home in Albany, and Ms de Vos thanked the Starlight Children’s Foundation for its work supporting seriously ill children and young people.
Funds from auctioning off the warm-up tees, Purple Haze beanies and Starlight wands sales and goal-kicking pledges were donated to the foundation on game day.
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