When Roger Federer joined the Humpty team last year, it made perfect sense. After all, the seed of the Humpty Dumpty Foundation was planted by a bunch of tennis lovers from the North Shore who wanted to make a difference. Humpty Executive Chairman Paul Francis contacted his good friend Tony Roche – who was hired by Federer in early 2005 to help him work on his clay court game, to see if Federer would help Humpty.
There was some doubt, however when it comes to kids, Federer is all heart and happily put his hand up to help Humpty. The athlete, widely regarded as one of the sporting world’s most respected nice guys, offered to play an hour of tennis with the highest bidder in the greatly anticipated auction at the 2006 Humpty Dumpty Ball.
A Queensland Humpty supporter bid $80,000 for the package for her husband who is a sports nut. The huge figure was then spent on several pieces of life-saving medical equipment for Royal North Shore Children’s Ward, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Mt Druitt Hospital and Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick.
Federer honoured his commitment in January 2008 at the Crown Towers in Melbourne just before the Australian Open.
On hand to watch the event were Mark and Heidi Wysman, who brought their son Sam to meet Federer. The tennis ace cradled the baby in his arms and was delighted when told that pieces of medical equipment donated through his tennis match had saved Sam’s life.