Arabic version: تذكّر حزمة دعم من نادٍ لكرة القدم بعد فقدان عائلي

According to The Guardian, Nick Scully has recalled an unexpected gesture from St Mary’s Greensborough after his wife died from breast cancer in 2015.

Scully said his son had played two seasons with the Melbourne football club before the family moved to central Queensland after he secured a job there. About five years after leaving Melbourne, the family received a package for his son as they began to emerge from grief.

The package contained a St Mary’s Greensborough football jersey bearing the family surname on the back. A note attached to it said: “Thinking of you after the loss of your mum.”

Scully said he did not know how the club obtained the family’s new address, but described the care package as an extraordinary act from a male-dominated institution. He said the family had received strong support during his wife’s illness and after her death, while unexpected gestures could be especially moving.

His wife had been diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer after the move north and died following a fierce battle with the disease. Scully said she had been a pragmatist who urged the family to get on with life, and that he and his children were now doing well. He added that no football club gets everything right, but said St Mary’s were trying.