Sean Corner Fund: Historic Welsh jerseys up for auction!

November 17, 2006

Rugby Canada press release:

BIDDING BEGINS ON SATURDAY FOR HISTORIC WELSH JERSEYS

November 17, 2006
Cardiff, WALES

Canada’s player-driven initiative to assist the injured, 21 year-old, Sean Corner, will begin on Saturday on eBAY.

In an effort to raise funds for paralyzed Hamilton Hornet rugby player Sean Corner, the Canadian players hope to trade their game jerseys with the Welsh players following Friday night’s match.

Those jerseys that they do receive will be offered for sale on eBay to the highest bidder beginning on Saturday morning.

On top of those jerseys the Wales manager, Alan Phillips, has donated four game jerseys signed by all of the members of the Welsh team. He has made this generous offer in the knowledge that the jerseys the Welsh players will wear on Friday night will be a special one-of-a-kind jersey and not all of his players may wish to trade away a “keeper.”

Canada will wear its red jerseys and the Wales team will wear a silver jersey with its Invesco Perpetual sponsor’s label emblazoned on the front.
“We understand completely that some of the Welsh players may not want to swap jerseys,” says Canada hooker Mark Lawson, who is spearheading the fundraising project. “If any do, however, we will post those Welsh jerseys on eBAY.com for auction.

“These will be very special jerseys worn in front of 73,000 at Millennium Stadium, the biggest crowd Canada has played in front of in its seventy-four year history. One hundred percent of the profits from these sales will go directly to the Sean Corner Benefit Fund.”

On September 9th, 2006, Sean Corner, a 21 year-old rugby player with the Hamilton Hornets RFC, suffered a spinal cord injury in a clean tackle during a post-season friendly match. He will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Though Sean has Ontario provincial health coverage, he will need lifelong support not covered, since the accident occurred just a day after Rugby Canada’s catastrophic insurance ran out.

Immediate costs include the renovation of Sean’s family home to accommodate a wheelchair, and the cost of a specialized automobile for Sean to drive.

The auction will open on Saturday, November 18th on ebay.com. Interested buyers should search for "Wales Test Jerseys" - this will lead them to all the jerseys. Also look for bcrugbynews_mcb as the seller's name.

I'll get a link to the auctions as soon as they appear.