I’d like to acknowledge my immediate family’s history before last Thursday’s tragic fire, although we all survived including my staffie Duke and I acknowledge it could’ve been far worse as we’re all still here.
Anyway, my mother is former fashion designer Sandra Layt (her label was the iconic Sandra Layt label and at its peak my mother owned six dress shops and a clothes manufacturing factory.
(photo below: mum with second husband Michael Sciberras at her shop at Birkenhead Point during the 1980s)
I am NSW Sky Blue (Player number #108).
I represented NSW Sky Blues in women’s rugby league State of Origin (then referred to as the interstate challenge) in 2007-08.
Unfortunately my mother lost her property from the GFC in 2012. She was out of the fashion industry by then and had gone back into the turfing/nursery industry in 2002.
My mother had previously been a pioneer as a turf farmer with my father in former jockey Keith Layt back in the 1970s/80s.
When she did manage to sell her property at Arcadia, she managed to stave off bankruptcy, but left with little money and only her belongings she’d built up through the years with the hard work she’d put in through her own business interests.
She got on with it the best way she could with little complaint and continued to live her life.
As for me, I successfully played my sport, representing NSW in women’s rugby league and won four Rugby Australia women’s national championships from 2004-08 and I medaled at World Masters Athletics championships.
I also played women’s grade cricket during this time with the odd appearance in first grade.
I’m now a keen lawn bowler and after only four years I recently skipped our mixed fours team to win the club championship at Windsor Bowling club to win my third title in three years (I’d previously won the minor singles and women’s fours championship).
As for my career I worked for both my parents at their various and separate business interests at times and then worked as a fitness instructor on and off for over 30 years.
When I spent time away from the fitness industry (2004-08) I worked in the community welfare sector having attained my Diploma of Community Welfare in 2003 and later on attained my Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2018.
I stepped away from all of that to care for my mother in 2012, although I did continue working casually in the fitness industry until 2017.
My mother has just been diagnosed with level 4 dementia and she has suffered rapid onset of dementia and has become frail very quickly, so it’s definitely been a triple whammy week, along with the flat tyre I acquired earlier during the day of the fire.
They do say things happen in triple.
My younger brother Brendon also lives with us. He has two grown children of his own. He was talented in his own right playing sport and once beat Olympian Jason Kougelis over 60m while they were both at The Kings Preparatory School.
He worked hard in the nursery and turf industry, but fell on tough times when he was diagnosed with mental health issues.
Fast forward to Thursday and we had that devastating house fire as can be seen from the pictures.
We do have contents insurance but that takes time to be resolved and it’s costing us a bomb for accommodation at the moment.
We’re all really happy we got out of the house with our lives intact (Duke the staffie included), but if you can reach into your pockets and help us out with a little help that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank-you in advance 🙏
The gofundme link is below:
The Left Winger 