Inverness City and Clachnacuddin former players raise thousands of pounds for Sophie’s Story to raise awareness of Batten’s disease
FOOTBALLERS came together to help raise thousands of pounds to increase awareness of a rare degenerative genetic disorder which a former player’s daughter has been diagnosed with.
Ex-players from Inverness City and Clachnacuddin have raised at least £7500 at a charity football match at Canal Park on Sunday in aid of Sophie’s Story for Sophie Mason, who has Batten’s Disease.
Sophie, is the daughter of Keith Mason, who played for Clachnacuddin, Inverness City and Nairn St Ninian during his career. He was formerly a coach at Clachnacuddin but stepped down from the role in December after his daughter was diagnosed with the illness.
The Batten Disease Family Association (BDFA) estimate that between one and three children are diagnosed with an infantile form (CLN-1) of the disease each year in the UK, meaning there are probably between 15 and 30 affected children in the UK currently.
There is no treatment for the disease, which causes progressive vision loss, seizures, disturbed sleep, stiff muscles, myoclonic jerks, loss of motor function, loss of the ability to swallow resulting in tube feeding and increased risk of respiratory infection.
Mason’s former teammates Shaun Kerr and Graeme Stewart organised the charity football match as they gathered ex-players from both clubs to help raise money for the cause.
At the match on Sunday, players formed a guard of honour where Sophie was carried on to the pitch with her parents Keith and Lizzie with around 500 supporters in attendance.
Keith said it was an incredible day and was grateful for all the support they received.
He said: “It was a pretty emotional day to be honest. I was a bit worried that the weather forecast would have put people off from coming down, but what a turn out from the players and the hundreds in attendance.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to Graeme and Shaun for organising it and the Rugby Club for the use of their fantastic facilities. To all the help on the day we can’t thank them enough. A great evening was had.”
Inverness City beat Clachnacuddin 3-1, but organiser Shaun Kerr said the scoreline was irrelevant, saying the most important thing on the day was to raise money for a good cause. He says there is still money coming in from the day.
He said: “It was an incredible turnout for the match. I reckon there was around 500 people who were at the ground.
“The last count we had we were told we had raised £7500. There is still money coming in from sponsorships and the raffle. I reckon we could get up to £9000 hopefully.
“It was an unbelievable effort for one game of football. All downstairs and the balcony was packed out during the match. It was fantastic to see.”
A number of fundraising events are also being planned to raise more money for Sophie’s Story.
