SO Logan Treasure, 5, did not feel alone when chemotherapy made his hair and eyebrows fall out earlier this year, his best mate Hudson shaved his head and raised $2000 from sponsors to help fund cancer research.
The Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation is helping Logan's family with an Ampol fuel card to cover twice-weekly hospital visits and has provided a $4000 Flight Centre voucher so the youngster, his parents Kristie and Jake and his mate Hudson can go on holiday together when Logan, who has acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL), feels up to it.
Now the foundation's WA director, Endeavour Wool Exports' wool buyer Steve Noa, is asking other wool buyers, brokers and wool growers to follow Hudson's lead and donate a bale of wool to the foundation to help families in the agricultural industry who are facing difficult circumstances, particularly those with children who have medical problems.
"The plan is to try and get enough donated wool to put together a special catalogue for one of the normal wool sales later in the year, probably in October or November at this stage," Mr Noa said.
"It will raise money for the foundation which has provided assistance for three rural families in 2021-21 (including Logan's and that of Jamie Sherlock, 3, of Marradong, who also has leukaemia and whose story featured in Farm Weekly last October).
"If woolgrowers would like to donate a bale or two to be auctioned off to raise further funds to allow us to keep assisting, please advise your wool broker who can then advise me.
"Or people can donate cash if they want to - Tianyu (Wool, the Melbourne-based largest Chinese indent wool buyer in Australia) has just donated $3000 to the foundation."
Mr Noa said he learned of Logan's plight from fellow wool buyer at the Western Wool Centre, Russel Fraser who buys for Techwool Trading and Dyson Jones Wool Marketing Services' State manager and director Peter Howie.
Logan's great grandfather is long-time local wool industry identity Peter Pagoda, who worked for Dysons as a country wool buyer and spent most of his working life in the Narrogin area servicing a territory stretching from Beverley out past Lake Grace.
Logan was diagnosed with APL - a version of leukaemia that usually only affects adolescents - at age 2.
His body began producing too many immature cells in blood and bone marrow, leading to a shortage of normal white and red blood cells.
Symptoms of APL can include increased risk of bleeding and blood clots, tiredness, pain in affected areas, loss of appetite and weight loss.
Logan spent much of the next nine months in hospital for treatment and in March, 2019, was declared free of the cancer.
But in October last year it returned.
He spent another three months in Perth Children's Hospital and because of the relapse, the treatment, including chemotherapy and its side effects were much more severe the second time around, his mum explained.
"He lost all his hair and his eyebrows," Ms Treasure said.
"He was very, very upset at that, he didn't want anyone to see him like that.
"His best mate Hudson's mum must have mentioned this to Hudson, who's the same age, because he decided to shave his head too so the other kids wouldn't just stare or laugh at Logan with his bald head.
"After being cooped up in hospital for three months Logan came home and was running around enjoying his freedom so much, he injured his Achilles heel and ended up having to wear a moon boot."
Ms Treasure said since he was allowed home, she and Logan have had to travel from their home on the southern outskirts of Perth to the hospital on a Monday - generally spending all day there for tests - and again on a Thursday each week.
She said the family was hoping the hospital visits would soon reduce to once a week, then hopefully later this year, to once a month.
Then, for at least the next 10 years, Logan will be required to visit hospital once a month for a check-up and to monitor whether his leukaemia was still in remission, she said.
About the foundation
A REGISTERED charity, the Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation was established in 2015 as a reach-out support service for rural families or children in need.
Michael 'The Legg' Manion was a larger-than-life, gregarious wool buyer who had a great empathy for people and always went out of his way to mentor and help young people entering the industry.
He died aged 61 in 2014 after a short battle with cancer.
Wool industry colleagues and friends created the foundation in his honour as a lasting legacy for the industry and agriculture in general.
It runs several fund-raising events each year and relies on donations from people and businesses in the wool industry.
Since it was established, the foundation has helped more than 20 families across Australia.
Western Australian director Steve Noa knew Mr Manion personally when they both worked as wool buyers in Melbourne.
