By Olivia Condous
A young Bacchus Marsh resident has been awarded a lifetime membership to his favourite martial arts gym, for showing courage in the face of cancer.
Hunter Murphy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia three years ago, but managed to beat the disease and finish treatment in October last year.
The seven-year-old is a big fan of martial arts and joined Phoenix Training Centre in Darley just before he got sick.
After finally returning to classes late last year, the gym surprised him with a special award at the annual presentation night and a lifetime membership.
Phoenix Training Centre director Amanda Saliba said the gym wanted to support Hunter and his family when they were going through a difficult time.
“We suspended all their payments, so they could all just train for free… anything that we could do, we did our best to do,” Ms Saliba said.
Hunter’s family has been involved in the club for a long time, as his dad Chris has trained there for many years and his sister Tia also takes classes.
Hunter’s mother Bridie Murphy said the support from the gym helped the family feel as though they weren’t alone.
“It helps a lot, it makes you feel like you’re not alone and not handling things alone. That you have a lot of support around you,” Ms Murphy said.
She said Hunter loved the sport and was excited to receive the special award.
“He’s so into the support, he’s all over it, it’s exactly what he loves,” Ms Murphy said.
Ms Saliba said the whole gym was “hurt deeply” when Hunter was struggling with cancer and wanted to support the whole family.
“Our club is about community and as a community…. So we were wanting to do as much as possible to not just support Hunter but support Chris and Bridie at the same time.”
