River is Back in the Pool Raising Money for Sick Kids in Hospital

River Poropat knows firsthand what spending time in hospital as a child is like.

River has Cerebral palsy and despite having one arm and using a wheelchair for mobility, River is once again undertaking a 2km swim to raise funds for the Starlight Foundation.

After the success of last year’s swim and fundraising efforts, River is back in the pool and training hard for his 2km swim on Thursday 18th May 2023 at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.

96five’s Ken and Nicky caught up with River and his carer Damon about how the training has been going and how River is inspired to bless sick children in the same way that he was blessed.

“We raised over 5,000 last year… it went straight to the Starlight Foundation” River said.

River and Damon train two times a week, usually completing 10 laps with two-minute breaks in between.

“We’ve introduced a few systems to our training this year” Damon said.

“We wanted to come up with something that was attention grabbing and catchy, so we came up with the PRPRLCS which actually stands for the ‘Patented River Poropat Rhyming Lap Counting System.’

River said he finds freedom in the pool and wants to help others through his swim.

River really felt the love from 96five listeners and was particularly encouraged by all the comments left along with donations from last year, sharing them with Ken and Nicky from memory.

If you would like to support River and his 2023 2km swim, visit the Starlight Foundation’s website.

Listen to the full interview in the player above.