Appeals to help Izaack in cancer battle
The region is rallying support for Izaack Powell, the 21-year-old Peninsula Power footballer battling leukaemia - for a second time.
Donations are flowing in to a GoFundMe page launched this week by Power to support their player, who needs a bone marrow transplant as a "long-term solution". Make a donation here.
Those aged 18-35 are also being urged by the former Grace Lutheran College student to join the Australian bone marrow donor register (ABMDR), to possibly help him and others in a similar position.
Powell was first diagnosed with leukaemia – a cancer of the white blood cells which starts in the bone marrow – in June 2021, while playing for Brisbane Roar.
The Redcliffe resident was cleared last December and joined Power missing only one game in the state-level NPL and cup competitions this season, including playing since the diagnosis.
“I’m still able to train and play at the moment,” Powell said, “… that might change soon.
“I went for a 12-month check-up and it was a surprise to me and doctors when the results came back.
“It was a bit surreal being told. I was upset … being told I was sick when I felt 100 per cent healthy.
“But there’s not much you can do to change what’s going on, except try to be positive.
"I'm very grateful for all this support – even from people I’ve never met before.”
Powell is now having weekly blood tests “to check everything” and says he has a “couple of options”.
“My sister is a half match (as a donor) and my parents have been tested as well,” he said.
Power life member Michelle Feuerriegel has set-up the ‘We Stand With Izaack’ GoFundMe page aiming to raise $20,000. More than 30 donations were made in the first 48 hours.
“Izaack will need all the support he can get to raise funds for medical expenses and time off work,” Mrs Feuerriegel says on GoFundMe.
The funds will also raise awareness of leukaemia, encourage people to join the life-saving register and help a ‘match’ through the bone marrow transplant.
Visit the ABMDR, Strength to Give and Lifeblood websites for details on how to become a life-saving donor.
Power's Senior Difrector of Football Ben Ryan said: “Izaack’s a good footballer but, in my opinion, you couldn’t wish to meet a nicer man from a nicer family.
“That’s what makes it so hard to accept. We all feel very sorry for him and his family.
“We’ll ‘Stand With Izaack’. We’re a family club and will do everything we can to help.”
Powell describes Peninsula Power is his “home club” having played there since the age of five, for six seasons.
He then went to Albany Creek Excelsior (ACE) and Moreton Bay United before joining Brisbane Roar’s youth ranks.
The defender's potential was soon realised. He played 36 times for Roar’s youth team and won a grand final in his first season.
Powell made his professional A-League debut in February 2019, just days short of his 17th birthday and played for Australia in the FIFA under-17s World Cup that year.