Jai Arrow has launched a GoFundMe campaign called Stand With Me as he fights motor neurone disease, turning a private diagnosis into a public appeal for help. The former NRL forward said his life changed forever after learning he has MND, and the fundraiser is being run on behalf of his family.
The 30-year-old said the campaign is about backing his partner, Berina, and their one-year-old daughter, Ayla, while he confronts a disease that has no cure. Arrow said he wants to keep pushing forward and is determined to explore treatments and therapies that may help him live the best life he can.
Ayla is already at the centre of everything he says he is fighting for. Arrow called her his motivation, his purpose and his reason to keep going, adding that she is still so young and has her whole life ahead of her. For a man forced into NRL retirement, the fundraiser gives his words a practical shape: money raised now can help ease the strain on a young family dealing with a long illness and the decisions that come with it.
The launch also lands as Arrow steps into a bigger public spotlight. He has been invited by Collingwood and the AFL to toss the coin before the King's Birthday clash at the MCG on Monday, part of the 12th Big Freeze, the annual MND event co-founded by the late Neale Daniher, who died after a 13-year battle with the disease. The freeze has raised well over $100 million for MND research over the past decade, and Arrow has flown back from a wellness retreat in Spain to be a special guest of honour.
There is still no cure for motor neurone disease, and that fact sits over everything Arrow is trying to build next. He has vowed never to stop fighting, and the next stretch is already mapped out: the NRL plans to throw him the world's biggest birthday party on July 12, when the Rabbitohs host Newcastle at Accor Stadium on his 31st birthday, with fans encouraged to bring donations for MND charities as part of a Jai July campaign that will run through the rest of the month.
