AN OUTPOUR of compassion and support for the Riewoldt family from the entire AFL community on Sunday helped raise what is estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars towards curing bone marrow failure syndromes.

After the final siren sounded for Maddie’s Match, and the media frenzy had waned, Nick Riewoldt was afforded a few minutes to reflect on the biggest day of the newly formed Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision with his family by his side.

Standing in the corner of the change rooms watching from afar was a girl who was reflecting on her own personal journey with Aplastic Anaemia – the same the disease that Madeleine Riewoldt had bravely fought, and lost against.

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A tap on 15-year-old Chloe Birkett’s shoulder from a St Kilda staff member jolted her into surprise as she was invited to meet Nick, the high-profile footballer who has made it his mission to ensure that no other family is forced to endure the heartbreak of losing a loved one to this largely unknown condition.

In early 2009,Chloe was always tired; run down and the family had noticed that she was bruising easily. She went to the doctor and he was immediately concerned. 

A blood test was arranged for 4pm that day and by 8pm the family received the results that showed Chloe, then aged just nine years old, was suffering from something very serious.  The family rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital fearing the grade four student would be diagnosed with leukaemia.

After a week-long wait and many tests Chloe was diagnosed with severe Aplastic Anaemia.

Like the Riewoldts, the Birketts were relieved when they were first told of the diagnosis – they thought it may be easily curable. But relief quickly turned to dismay as this foreign disorder was explained - Chloe was about to embark on the biggest journey her little body had ever encountered with no assurances for how it would end.

The search for a bone marrow match began, but with no success.  Chloe began Anti-Tymocyte Globulin treatment and went through many months of steroids and immunosuppressive therapy including cyclosporine treatment.

There were weekly blood transfusions and words like haemoglobin, platelets, neutrophils and lymphocytes all suddenly became common everyday words for the Birketts.

The treatments and medicines continued for more than a year.

Chloe Birkett in August 2009 while being treated for Aplastic Anaemia - a poignant reminder of her battle with the illness.

Six years on and now 15 years old, Chloe is in year 10 and in remission from Aplastic Anaemia.

She still has her battles but generally her health has been good. As a result of the treatment, Chloe has also battled chronic fatigue and had some time away from studies but is now back at school and living life the way any 15-year-old should.

The Birketts had not heard of anyone else with Aplastic Anaemia until Maddie’s illness became public and only one other person since.

And while the two young women never met, Maddie’s passing in February rocked Chloe to her core.

The Birketts are not regular attendees at the football, but wouldn’t have missed Sunday’s game for the world.

Despite her understandable reluctance to revisit her personal battle with the illness, Chloe and her family, were determined to show their support and do all they could to raise awareness for the disease that occupied her formative years.

And so 40 minutes after the siren sounded for Maddie’s Match, the Saints pondered their defeat but did so with a rare context.

As the crowd in the St Kilda changerooms slowly dispersed, Chloe and her dad were among the last left, pondering the fragility of life and everything they had been through.

They were led past a barrier and to the purple-clad Riewoldt family.

Visit www.MRV.org.au to find out more about bone marrow failure sydnromes and Maddie Riewoldt's Vision.

The emotion was difficult to bear for the Birketts but from across the room Nick was waiting to meet the girl who bravely fought against the disease he has campaigned so hard to raise awareness of.

The St Kilda captain was drained from an emotional day and had never met Chloe. Not that it stopped him from instantly embracing one of the few people who from personal experience knew what his sister had endured.

They happily posed for a photo, sharing little but a common goal to find a cure for bone marrow failure syndromes. It was cathartic for both but there was no hiding from the sadness that had determined this meeting.

As they spoke, Nick left Chloe with a reassuring message that will go some way in making the memories of her battle a little more bearable. “Hopefully you don’t have to explain your suffering as much now.”

While there is a sense that she is currently winning the fight against this debilitating illness, Chloe knows she is not necessarily out of the woods and still has an annual check-up at the Royal Children’s Hospital and a bone marrow biopsy to ensure her bone marrow health stays on track.

The Birketts may not have the profile of the Riewoldts but Chloe’s parents Jeff and Clare can identify partly with their struggles without knowing the pain that they felt at the loss of their daughter.

“As parents and having been through this journey we simply cannot understand the feelings of loss that Nick and his family would have gone through, particularly Nick’s mum and dad,” Jeff said.

“We consider ourselves very lucky in the scheme of things and the photo of Chloe in August 2009 that shows the consequences of the medicines required to treat this illness is one Chloe would prefer to be destroyed and never see the light of day again but she also recognises the impact of such a photo and just maybe her journey can help in some way to ensure others don’t go through this hideous illness.

Help find a cure for bone marrow failure syndromes by visiting www.MRV.org.au and donating today.

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