Old Boy Tom Allwright trekking for a cause
Yesterday Old Boy Tom Allwright (’08) visited us to speak to our Year 11 and 12 students about his journey since leaving Hutchins. Tom was a boarder at Hutchins and was a talented AFL player and rower at school. He was drafted to Geelong in 2008 but his AFL career was cut short after two games when he injured his knee and required a knee reconstruction. Since then Tom has found a passion for trekking and now operates a business taking trekkers to destinations like Kokoda, Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp. It was on his last trek to Everest Base Camp that Matthew Jones, one of Tom’s fellow trekkers, passed away due to altitude sickness. Read the full story on ABC’s website.
In honour of Matthew’s life, Tom is now preparing for a return to Everest for a VIP luxury charity walk in April next year. Matthew was a type 1 diabetic and the trek will raise a significant amount of funds towards the treatment of type 1 diabetes. We would like to thank Tom for sharing his difficult story with us, and wish him all the best for the fundraising trek. His story of resilience and dealing with difficult life situations resonated with the boys who were in awe of his story.
Information on the fundraising trek can be found at trekformatt.com.