Mick Sell and family

It's been an awful past couple of months in our racing world with regards to injuries, and worse, consuming the headlines and our minds.

But like no other industry, the people involved in it continue to shelve their competitiveness and their own problems to come together to rally behind those who have fallen victim to the dangers of their profession, and of course their families.

As terrible as each sitution is, the love and support displayed each time is a beautiful thing to witness.

Our latest casualty, Kyneton based trainer Mick Sell, suffered a badly broken ankle and leg when leading one of his youngsters around. This will keep him frustratingly sidelined for months. As a result of this, his incredibly supportive wife Melissa, has now taken over the reins of the family run business, but due to the enormous task of trying to keep the stable of 22 running smoothly they have had to reduce the number of horses in work.

Given that they are still recovering from the recent devastating floods, which threatened both their home and business, this has placed an enormous strain on their finances as they try to cope with daily life and looking after their family of young children: Sarah, Joe & Louise.

Then to top things off, Mel herself wound up in hospital recently with a head injury requiring stitches, so they really have been in the wars.

Mick and Mel are forever opening their arms to those in need, as they did when taking in young Jessie Philpot after the tragic passing of her mother Donna in a track fall at Bendigo.

In a heartbeat Mick & Mel took Jess on as their apprentice jockey, but so much more than that, they took her under their wings and she forever became a big part of their family.

So, it was great to see former trainer Heath Connors, now with Southern Cross feeds together with Paul from Kyneton Stockfeeds, generously delivering 3 months supply of feed at no charge to ensure their horses continue to recieve the very best of care. We would also like to ensure that Mick and Mel recieve the best of care which is the purpose of this fundraiser.

There are no expectations, no dollar target.

Anything anyone can spare to help a great family in need would be enourmously appreciated.

Thanking you in advance.