It’s staggering to think that every year in Australia, 3 million children are hospitalised. Some are in hospital for those typical injuries of childhood with broken bones and the like. For others, their time in hospital is much more serious and prolonged.
For those children and their families, life changes in an instant. Jason Sotiris knows the pain of this all too well after his daughter was diagnosed with cancer at a young age.
“I was one of those parents,” he recalls. “You never forget who was there for you during the most vulnerable time in your life. When you think about a child facing something like cancer, the stress is off the charts for the whole family.”
It was this experience that saw Jason design the Supertee, a medical garment disguised as a superhero costume for children facing the battle of their lives in hospital. Ingleburn RSL Club proudly awarded Jason’s Fair Fight Foundation with a $10,000 ClubGRANT in 2022 to fund more Supertees for sick children.
The power of the Supertee
The Supertee isn’t just a t-shirt. It also isn’t just a garment that helps them bypass medical equipment. Jason explains that the power of the Supertee is in the superhero status it gives to these children.
“The children can wear the Supertee throughout their entire stay in hospital,” says Jason. “It gives the nurses the ability to interact and engage with the child through imaginative superhero role play. Superheroes win the day. Many people don’t realise just how deep this goes.
“What we wear matters. It can change the way we feel. When you wear a hospital robe, it reinforces that you’re sick and in hospital. We want to change the way children look and feel in hospital to help them face the challenges that lie ahead.”
Super partnerships
The Walt Disney Company now also partners with Supertee, helping to invite the children into the world of imaginative play in the face of their treatment and recovery.
“When the child receives a Supertee, they receive a whole pack,” explains Jason. “They receive stickers, an activity book and an official hero status card that recognises them as a superhero for Marvel. There is also a personal message from Brie Larson and Chris Hemsworth.”
“We’re proud that the ClubGRANT from our club will fund 200 of these packs for sick children,” adds Terry Goldsworthy, President of Ingleburn RSL Club. “It’s tragic to hear of the suffering of any child but the Fair Fight Foundation is doing such incredible work.”
Learn more about the Supertee and how it provides sick children and their families with a boost of bravery.
