WHEN Echuca shearers Guns and Rousies took the clippers to 230 sheep in Rochester recently, it was so much more than a hard day’s work.
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They were shearing to give a five-year-old a future.
The local shearers donated six hours of their time for little Finn Lindsey-Field, whose mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer at the start of this year.
Myrtleford’s Kate Lindsey-Field, 32, has been given a year at the least – three at the most – to live.
But she, Finn and husband Fionn have felt anything but alone in this tragic time, with the team at Guns and Rousies quickly rallying.
And raising $2500 towards a trust fund for young Finn.
“(Kate’s husband) Fionn is an extremely close family friend of ours, he's like a brother to my mum,” Guns and Rousies member Ally Costas-Broughton said.
“She moved onto the station Fionn managed when she was quite young and worked there constantly.
“They gave us two a roof over our heads when mum went through a hard time.
“And now, seeing them go through something hard as well, mum was like, ‘well we've got to give back’.”
The shearing team worked for free on the day, with Rochester farmer Matthew Cantwell, who offered his sheep to be shorn, donating an extra $3 per head of sheep from his own pocket.
“We'd already been shearing Matt's sheep anyway and mum just came up with the idea,” Ally said.
Although Finn and Kate were in Bright at the time, Fionn came to help out on the day, taking care of the wool and shearing a couple sheep himself.
“They have been just so grateful. They couldn't thank us enough,” Ally said.
This isn’t the first time the team has stepped up to help out – they also donated a hangi for Kate and Fionn’s wedding, which was only last week.
“Finn was so happy to see his mum and dad finally married. He was the ring-bearer,” Ally said.
“He's probably still a little too young to fully grasp what is happening.
“He just knows mummy isn't well and some days he can't really play and be active with her because she has no energy.”
As for Kate and Fionn, Ally said the newlyweds were just taking it one day at a time.
“Some days are better than others for Kate. She had another surgery a few days after the wedding,” Ally said.
“She's recovered pretty well and is back home with Finn and Fionn now.
“As for Fionn, it’s obviously hard knowing he will to lose his wife sooner than they'd planned. But he always has a smile on his face and takes each day as it comes.”
The Guns and Rousies team hopes its recent fundraiser will also raise vital awareness around cancer screening.
“It’s so important to keep checking for cancer, because it can go undetected until it's too late,” Ally said.
Ally thanked everyone who helped on the day, including Antonio’s Echuca who donated pizza.