Seth Matic will always have a special connection with the St Kilda Football Club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Living with a rare blood disorder called aplastic anaemia, the 12-year-old's story is intrinsically linked with the Saints.
It is the same disorder that former star player Nick Riewoldt's sister, Maddie, died of complications from aged just 26 - something that Seth's mother Jess Pearce didn't originally know.
"Nobody's ever heard of it," she said.
"There was a brief time where Seth's immune system was considered too low to be outside of the hospital until it was time to return to Melbourne.
"Even in that time I had nurses that are saying 'we'll just follow your lead on this because you're the only one that knows about Seth and what he's got, we actually don't' - that was a bit full on."
Seth's journey
Pearce explained the disorder is bone marrow failure, where Seth's body fails to produce healthy and new blood cells.
Worldwide there are 0.7-4.1 cases per million people, some caused by exposure to certain chemicals, others - like Seth's - are "just pure bad luck".
He was first admitted to Mersey Hospital on January 1, 2020, having struggled with nosebleeds and bruising easily but still living life as a normal kid on school holidays.
Set for a camping trip the next day, he was taken to the hospital after a "relentless" nosebleed and was eventually flown to Hobart and then Melbourne.
"His platelet count was sitting at about six, which is horrendously low, so he had no platelets to clot his blood - that's why he couldn't stop bleeding," Pearce said.
"They said his haemoglobin was so low that he shouldn't really have been able to function, so his red blood cells just weren't there either and no white cells or neutrophils for his immune system to protect him."
He was initially diagnosed with Leukaemia, which Pearce said isn't uncommon, and looked set for a bone marrow transplant but after not finding a match, they pushed on with immunotherapy.
Seth's body responded well in a really good timeframe, something that doesn't always happen given the possible side effects.
"The fact that he only needed 22 transfusions does show that he has been quite lucky," Pearce said.
"Some of the other families, not that there's a lot out there, they're in the hundreds for how many transfusions they've received.
"Some of them have had the immunotherapy and it hasn't worked and they've had a second round and that hasn't worked and then they've had to have a transplant anyway.
"We're not lucky to have been put on this journey as it is but we are so lucky that his body has just been up for the fight."
Seth was medication free for about eight months last year but his counts dropped again, so he went back on them in August and will wean off again at a later stage.
The Saints' support
Seth and his mum have met with St Kilda twice - once in Melbourne last year and in Launceston last week.
This is something that would never have been possible for the Port Sorell family without Maddie Riewoldt's Vision.
"They're the one and only dedicated organisation for bone marrow failure," Pearce said.
"When you look at leukaemia and other cancer diagnoses, there's a lot of help, knowledge, research and charities but with bone marrow failure, Maddie Riewoldt's Vision is it.
"They're literally been our guiding light through this whole thing."
When they visited last year, Seth had a bad acne breakout, which Pearce said the players dealt with perfectly.
"They were all so lovely, nobody even looked twice at him, nobody asked about anything and it was the most I've seen him smile in such a long time."
He had a photo with his favourite player Max King, and was gifted a signed jumper with 'Seth' on the back of it.
As soon as the AFL fixture was released and St Kilda were playing Hawthorn in Launceston, the pair knew they'd be going to the game.
"I reached out to Maddie's Vision and said 'we're going to be at the Saints game, now that Seth's face is looking so much better, do you think there's a chance of us connecting again and getting a new photo?'," Pearce said.
"Straight away they reached out to the Saints and lined it all up and made it happen like it was nothing."
Mum's message
Pearce was sporadically a blood donor before Seth's diagnosis and now she "talks people's ears off " about blood donation.
"You never think you're going to see the other side of it," she said.
"And 22 times I've sat by my child's side and watched his life be saved by complete strangers while their blood was dripping into his system.
"I think a lot of people don't really consider where their blood might be going if they were going to donate.
"They might think it's going to people having surgery or car-crash victims and things like that. They might not consider that they're saving a child just down the road."