Hi, my name is Kat and with the permission and support from Tom's Family we are starting a GoFundMe for Tom and his family.

In a moment that should have been filled with the joy of the game he loves, Tom Tugai a 17-year-old Kirwan Bears player suffered a devastating and life-changing injury. During a school football match, he sustained a severe C4/5 fracture-dislocation with hyerflexion, resulting in a complete spinal chord injury.

What followed was urgent, complex spinal surgery to stabilise his neck-an operation no family ever imagines their child needing. While the surgery was successful, his journey forward is one of immense courage, strength, and uncertainty.

In the coming weeks, Tom will leave his hometown and relocate to Brisbane for intensive inpatient spinal rehabilitation. Doctors expect he will need to remain there for up to 12 months, working tirelessly everyday to rebuild what this injury has taken from him. This means a year away from his home, his school, his teammates, and the familiar comfort of his community.

Tom comes from a large, loving family who have been by his side every step of the way. But the emotional and financial strain of long term-relocation, accommodation, travel, and daily living far from home is overwhelming. No family prepares for something like this.

This GoFundMe has been created for one purpose: to help this young man and his family stay together through the hardest chapter of their lives. Your support-whether big or small-will help keep his family close , ease the financial burden, and allow him to focus on what matters most: healing, hope and the long road ahead.

Thank you for wrapping your arms around him, his family, and the Kirwan Bears community during this heart breaking time. Your kindness will make a difference they will never forget.