River’s Gift dials in at annual golf day

VICTORIA’S leading charity for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), led by parents Karl Waddell and Alex Hamilton, is celebrating another successful River’s Gift Golf Day, raising tens of thousands in funds at The Sands Torquay last Friday.

River’s Gift operations manager and father of River, Mr Waddell, confirmed the annual golf day raised approximately $70,000 in its eighth year.

“As I was driving down Horseshoe Bend Road in the morning on the way to the event this year, I could feel a presence, I felt like River was there assuring me that the day would be okay,” Mr Waddell said.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into this year’s event, The Sands have again been gracious hosts, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

North Torquay has an emotional effect on Mr Waddell and Ms Hamilton, as it was where they lost River, their first child who slipped away to SIDS at four months of age in 2011.

“The area that The Sands is in is just so significant to us. We lived very close to this golf course just up on Island Drive when we lost our little man,” Mr Waddell added.

“We’ve been really lucky to have the Southern Star Group as our major sponsors once again for a seventh-straight year.”

The golf day, which featured renowned sports administrator Cameron Schwab as a special guest and was hosted by MC Angie Hilton, was the fifth time the event was held at The Sands.

“It was great to look out into the audience on the day and see a lot of the same faces that have been with us for the past eight years, but also so many new faces too,” River’s mother and River’s Gift founder Ms Hamilton said.

“It just means that the word of River’s Gift is spreading, and more businesses are jumping on as well.

“We hope more and more people learn about what we are doing and are educated about the research around SIDS.”

To find out more about the work of River’s Gift and SIDS, head to riversgift.org