With a condition affecting his muscles and nervous system, he’s prevented from getting out of bed, or even moving.

As he spends month after month in hospital, his family live through every parent's nightmare. 

It was December 1998 when the Lions Club of Yass bought a $12,000 Hart Walker that went on to save his life. 

“If we didn’t get the machine he’d have died,” Yass Lions Club President Raymond Hill said. 

“I remember taking him down the main street of Yass not long after he got the walker. The purpose of the machine was to get his body moving and his heart circulating blood. The machine responds to the body and when it moves forward, the walker follows.

“It wasn’t long before he was moving a lot better and functioning on his own. The months he was spending in hospital each year turned into days.”

Today, 18 years later, that same boy has been employed in a nursery in Bega, with a vastly different life ahead of him. 

“That, to me, is one of the best things that could have happened. I’ll never forget it, we may have changed his life but he changed ours too,” Mr Hill continued. 

Raymond Hill is one of the longest serving members of the Lions Club, having helped the community of Yass and surrounds for 30 years. 

Yet, despite contributing to the community since 1959, the Lions Club is in danger of folding because they can’t attract any new members. 

“We need bums on seats, as the old saying goes,” he continued. “We need people to come to meetings and help on the projects. I’m getting older and there isn’t enough manpower to keep going the way we’re going.”  

During 57 years of service the Lions have donated almost $1 million to local organisations and worthy causes, along with their own Lions Foundations, truly living up to their motto: “We Serve”.  

While most people know the Lions as the “masters of the sausage sizzle”, a prerequisite for signing up, most of their work is done behind the scenes. 

In 1991, the Club bought its first defibrillator for the Yass Ambulance Station, costing $10,550 and within just one week paramedics used it to save the life of local man Russell Dowling, who had suffered a heart attack. 

“Russell is now 91 years of age with a great quality of life,” Mr Hill said. 

“We gave him another 25 years, and counting, and his family have had many more years with him.”

he Lions have provided new heating to the Yass Senior Citizens Hall and air conditioning to hospital rooms, along with creating a path to a reflection area at Maya’s Rest, a place where people with terminally ill children can have respite at no charge. 

The Lions also sponsor students in undertaking life-changing experiences in the Outward Bound program, as well as sponsoring young people in the annual Youth of the Year competition.

“Outward Bound changed my life,” participant Lucy Bucknell said. 

“It helped me take a break from the everyday and refocus. I think it’s great for students to get away from what’s happening at school, switch off their phones, and really think about what they want from life.

“Lions gave me that and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”

Ms Bucknell was also the Youth of the Year competitor in 2015. Having progressed through three stages of the competition she describes the experience as having given her self-confidence to speak in public and to trust her own thoughts and opinions. 

“If the Lions Club were to close it would be a huge loss to the people of Yass,” she said. 

“I know how much they do but they don’t promote themselves like other organisations, they’ve given so many people amazing experiences and I hope it will continue for years to come.”

The Lions Club is in desperate need of new members. It’s a chance to gain a sense of pride and give back into the community you live in. 

“It’s not about the pat on the back, but the smile from someone you’re helping,” Mr Hill explained. 

“You also get to enjoy the company of newly-found friends and can have a say in new projects and programs. It really will change your life.”

To become a Lions member phone Raymond Hill on 0411 363 644 or email admin@luffmotors.com.au.