A CELEBRITY chef, an AFL legend, and a well-known humanitarian will headline a special Gala Ball on Saturday, June 3 at Maison in Elsternwick to raise awareness of Oesophageal Atresia (OA) a rare congenital medical condition that causes the oesophagus to detach from the stomach in newborns.
Duel Brownlow medallist Chris Judd, MasterChef star Dani Venn and humanitarian Moira Kelly will be guest speakers at a night filled with fun, food and entertainment. Former Melbourne Demons player Russell ‘Robbo’ Robertson and Phil Ceberano will perform live music on stage.
Oesophageal Atresia (OA) is a malformation of the ‘food pipe’ which is not connected to the stomach and often requires life-saving surgery to correct the problem. Patients can then go on to have serious ongoing issues with the narrowing of the oesophagus and reflux.
OA can also be associated with tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TOF), which is an abnormal connection between the oesophagus and the trachea (windpipe) and can cause ongoing breathing difficulties.
OARA Australia is looking forward to hosting a night to raise awareness of an extremely rare condition that affects one in 3,500 children each year. “We had nearly 150 people attend our Gala event last year, which was fantastic.
“It’s our major fundraiser for the year and this year we are targeting 200 people,” Matt said.
OARA is hoping enough money is raised from the Gala so that they can continue to fund two nurses at the Royal Children’s Hospital who work especially on cases where kids are born with OA/TOF.
The Wholehearted Cook founder Dani Venn and OARA Australia Ambassador said: “It’s such a privilege and honour to be an Ambassador for OARA where I can give something back to the community for what is such a great cause, especially having a young family myself.”
Russell Robertson added: “I’m really looking forward to entertaining the guests and ensuring everyone has a great night for what is an amazing cause.”
“We also help fund a database that maintains all the records of kids who have been born with OA/TOF. A lot of doctors access the database to learn more about the condition and complete valuable research,” Matt added.
To learn more about OA please visit OARA Australia’s website: http://oara.org.au/ You can also get tickets for this event via the attached link here: https://www.trybooking.com/PHLL
