MND doesn’t discriminate. It can strike the healthiest athlete and of course it can hit anyone in the community. In this instance it has struck somebody who has been part of The Cumberland Throw community since we launched back in 2015.
Giannino (Gianni) Giusti is one of the most passionate Eels and rugby league supporters you could ever meet. Regular readers will recognise his name from his replies to TCT posts over the years. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with MND just a few months ago.
Naturally the news has been devastating to his family and friends, but they only have one thing in mind – to help as many people as they can.
To that end, they have started fundraising for MND Australia. With every dollar that is donated to MND research, the journey to find a cure moves closer to success.
Many of you who follow our social pages are already aware of the Giusti family’s fundraising. But not everybody follows our social media pages, so we are also posting the details here.
This link takes you to the Giusti family’s fundraising page on the official MND Australia website. Their goal was originally $5000 and thankfully this was reached in a few days. The new goal is $10000 and I reckon our community of Eels supporters can help them to smash that.
Please consider donating. Every dollar is going directly to MND Australia.
As for Gianni, he’s refusing to let MND stop his passion for Parra. He’s hoping to get to Vegas for round one. He’s hoping to get to every game in 2027. But it won’t be easy. There will come a time when it will be physically impossible to travel from his home on the Central Coast to CommBank Stadium.
Jai Arrow has connected with the family, and this has meant a lot.
Gianni and Mike with a rogues gallery of Eels mates at Kellyville (photo credit Joel Giusti)
Gianni and his son Joel were at Eels training last Friday. They spent time with new CEO Mike Rush, then Jason Ryles and Jackson Koina had a chat with him after the session finished. The goal is to get to as many preseason sessions as possible, even though it’s a couple of hours in peak hour traffic.
There is likely to be an upcoming auction that the Parramatta Eels will kindly donate items for, but again, none of this is raising money for Gianni. It is all going to MND Australia. It is a selfless and generous act from a family facing a very tough road.
Please consider supporting their fundraiser.
Eels forever!
Sixties
