ARN and Atomic 212° have joined forces to raise awareness for the excruciatingly painful illness, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), and to raise money for 10-year-old Bella Macey, who is currently suffering with the disease.
ARN launched a national campaign on August 19 running across The KIIS Network, GOLD104.3, WSFM, Cruise1323 and 96FM, calling on listeners to donate to help Bella with her expensive treatment.
Bella is the daughter of Atomic 212° group account director Emma Macey. The fundraising and awareness campaign for Bella has been led by Emma and Atomic 212° Chairman, Barry O’Brien OAM, who approached ARN to get involved.
The ARN campaign was produced by the network’s head of creative – commercial, Michael Dargan, and senior creative writer, Fiona Smith.
Two months ago, Bella was diagnosed with CRPS, a complex neurological disorder and excruciatingly painful illness. It started with an innocuous blister on her foot she got while holidaying with her family in Fiji.
Thankfully, Bella secured a place at The Spero Clinic in the US, where she is currently receiving treatment from a dedicated team of specialists who utilise innovative therapies, including physical therapy, and neurostimulation techniques, to help relieve her pain and restore the function of her leg.
Barry O’Brien said: “Emma is part of our agency family and when we heard about Bella, we immediately wanted to do everything we could to help. CRPS is a rare and insidious disease, and treatment is very expensive.
“The support Emma, Bella and the family have received to date has been amazing. When I told the team at ARN about Bella, they didn’t hesitate to get involved and created this amazing ad campaign. Words cannot express our thanks and gratitude.”
Michael Dargan said: “Like the rest of Australia, when we first heard of Bella’s story, we wanted to do all that we could to support her and the family. We know that the connection our listeners have with their community is really important to them and they are always looking at ways in which they can support each other. Bella’s story is no different.”
Bella’s parents Emma and Christopher Macey set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to go directly toward medical expenses, including consultations, diagnostic tests, medications and any associated travel costs. So far, they have raised approximately $280,000.
The GoFundMe page can be found here.