A rather special game of football took place over the weekend in Ōtaki, north of Wellington, to help raise money for a young boy's cancer battle.
Funds raised from the 40-hour-long match will benefit eight-year-old Liam Paroli and his family after he was diagnosed with soft tissue cancer and now must complete over a year of treatment in Auckland.
"It turned our whole world upside down. It's been a huge change for our family. He's got to have 66 weeks of treatment for both chemo and radiotherapy," says his mother Andy Paroli.
A lot of that treatment is done in Auckland. Liam is 12 weeks in and coping well.
"We've had some good results from the treatments we've had so far," she says.
Over the weekend, Ōtaki College raised money for the family by taking on all comers in a 40-hour football marathon. A Givealittle page has been set up with more than $4000 raised so far.
"You put yourself in their position, right - I would hate for that to happen to my child, to my whanau. So if you can do anything, chuck a dollar towards it to support them in the next couple of years, it's all worth it, right," says Ōtaki College teacher Sam Ward.
Liam's family is overwhelmed.
"We've never met you before, and yet you're doing this for our family. It's just flipping amazing," says his dad Sam Paroli.
Liam is a keen footballer and took on Ōtaki College during the 40 hours.
"We've got another slot booked in this afternoon, so we'll be back again over the next couple of days, no doubt," Sam adds.
