At just 16 years of age, Luke Spalding has faced more than his fair share of adversity.

Luke is currently fighting his second round of a very rare form of cancer – DSRCT (Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumours) – with only 200 cases diagnosed worldwide, and only a handful in Australia.

It requires him to regularly visit hospital to undergo an intensive chemotherapy treatment.

But his ongoing battle has failed to dampen his incredibly positive attitude.

Only last year Luke met a young girl in the oncology ward of the Royal Brisbane Hospital, who suffered from the same rare condition.

She would take great pleasure in playing with the nurse’s iPad during their rounds, but that joy would soon turn to tears when it came time to hand the tablet back.

So Luke took it upon himself to raise enough funds to purchase the six-year-old girl, and every other child in the cancer ward, an iPad for Christmas!

Brisbane Lions Platinum Partner, Hyundai, soon became aware of this heart-warming story, and through their Foundation – Hyundai Help for Kids – invited Luke to be part of a special match-day experience during the Lions’ home game against Sydney last month.

Luke not only witnessed the players’ pre-game warm-up, but followed the team out onto the field and had the honour of tossing the coin before the start of the game.

“It was ridiculous the amount of people there, it was amazing,” Luke said of the memorable occasion.

Just when Luke thought nothing could rival his Round 7 footy experience, he was invited back to the Gabba on Tuesday and presented with a team-signed framed Lions guernsey, together with photos of him tossing the coin, and even the same 50-cent piece he tossed prior to the match. He also received a leather Sherrin with messages of support from the Lions players and coaches.

Better yet, the presentation was made by Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch, Captain Jed Adcock, and Hyundai representative Martin Him, in front of the team, who responded with rapturous applause.

Leppitsch told his players of Luke’s inspirational story, which certainly put their own football-related issues quickly into perspective.

Luke is the just one of many children who has been able to benefit from Hyundai Help for Kids – a community-based program designed to assist children and their families in need with support through sport, culture, education, health, community engagement, and welfare initiatives.

The Brisbane Lions and Hyundai are thrilled to have been able to play a small role in recognising Luke’s enormous courage, and wish him well as he embarks on his latest chemotherapy treatment which commenced late yesterday afternoon.