Queensland’s trademark beard will be no more, with Charlie Dixon set to shave his off for charity, raising much needed funds and awareness for the degenerative disease, Friedreich Ataxia.
For almost eighteen months, Dixon has sported one of Australian sports most-talked about beards, recently being compared to the beard of famous Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly.
But next month, the intimidating Dixon will shave off his unruly beard to raise money for the Friedreich Ataxia Research Association (FARA).
Although the charity does fantastic work for young children and teenagers suffering from co-ordination disability and speech impediment, the disease has personal significance Dixon.
Dixon moved to the Gold Coast from Cairns to pursue his football career. To help him settle into life on the coast, Dixon boarded with a host family.
Prior to this, Dixon had never met anyone who suffered from Friedreich Ataxia, until meeting host sisters Jamie-Lee and Samantha Dwyer.
Diagnosed with FA from aged 10 and 11, the family’s paediatrician advised the girl’s parents there was nothing that could be done to treat the disease, telling them they should enjoy the limited time they had with their children as the likelihood of them living past 20 years of age was not high.
Now 22 and 23, Jamie-Lee and Samantha have gone on to live quality and rich lives, attending university and helping deliver research into FA.
While the Dwyer’s journey is one that constantly puts life and football into perspective, it is also a fight that motivates Dixon to overcome the challenges that come with playing AFL football.
“Having lived with Jamie-Lee and Sam during my early days on the Gold Coast, FARA is a charity that is very close to me,” Dixon told goldcoastfc.com.au.
“It has motivated me to to raise much-needed funds and awareness for the organisation, and make a difference in the local community.”
Dixon said it was also rewarding to increase the profile of a charity that does not get the same prominence as other notable and worthy causes such as breast cancer and prostate awareness.
“There are not too many people on the Gold Coast, or in Australia for that matter that are aware of FARA, so it is always a positive to be able to get out there and encourage those to get on the front foot.”
To support Charlie and FARA, donate on-line today
Friedreich Ataxia Research Association (Australasia) is a not for profit charitable organisation dedicated to the pursuit of treatments and a cure for Friedreich Ataxia (FA). FARA(A)’s organisational structure includes a board of family members of FA patients from Australia and New Zealand, and a Scientific Advisory Committee of experts in FA and related fields.
FARA(A)’s objective has always been and will remain to fund research that will lead to a treatment or cure for FA patients. FARA(A) is also committed to supporting the provision of clinical care for all Australasian FA’ers. FARA(A) does not however support individuals or their individual needs. For more information visit www.fara.org.au
What is Friedreich Ataxia (FA)?
FA is a degenerative, genetic, neurological disease that appears predominantly in children and teenagers, usually first diagnosed between the ages of 5 and 15. FA causes difficulty walking, talking and performing everyday functions, soon leaving sufferers wheelchair bound.
FA is a progressive condition and in time causes weakening of the limbs and in turn complete incapacitation. It does not affect intellectual capacity. It’s associated with vision, hearing and speech failure, combined with severe heart disease, scoliosis and diabetes and greatly reduced life expectancy.
FA is extremely rare, currently believed to affect about 1 in 50,000 people in Australia and New Zealand.
Cause
FA is caused by a defect in the genetic code by which the body functions (DNA). This defect results in reduction or lack of production of an important protein known as frataxin. Frataxin is an important protein in mitochondria, an energy powerhouse within cells and low frataxin levels are thought to result in poor energy production in cells, susceptibility to free radicals which can damage organs, and accumulation of iron in mitochondria.
History
FA is named after Nikolaus Friedreich, who first described the condition in 1863. But it was only in 1996 that it was identified that the specific cause is an abnormality in a single gene – the Frataxin (FXN) gene. Considering the recency of that discovery, the progress made so far in research has been remarkable.
Transmission
FA is an inherited genetic disorder, described as autosomal recessive. Each of our genes is composed of half which we inherit from our mother and half from our father. If a person has the abnormality only in one half of their FXN gene, they would have no symptoms, but would be a carrier. A child of two carriers has a 1-in-4 chance of their FXN gene being inherited from the abnormal half from their mother and the abnormal half from their father. Only in that case would they exhibit symptoms. (And it’s usually only on diagnosis of an FA patient that their parents would discover, retrospectively, that they are carriers).
