Beloved son, grandson, nephew, brother and mate Corey Rapson should have been turning 30 in May.
Instead the smart, modest, popular tennis coach from Canberra had his life cut terribly short in a car accident in Melbourne in June 2018.
Just about to leave Australia to return to England, working at a tennis academy in Oxford, the then-25-year-old was a passenger in the car. He suffered severe head injuries, entering a coma from which he never emerged. Corey was cared for at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for more than three weeks before passing away, on July 4, 2018.
The care and compassion Corey received at The Alfred stayed with his family, who now want to give back. And bring some light to where they has been the heaviest of emotions.
Corey's aunt Julie Rapson has organised a puppy wedding on Sunday at The Dock on the Kingston Foreshore as a fundraiser for The Alfred Foundation to benefit brain trauma research.
The wedding is silly. It's delightful. It's a bit of fun for a family that has been through too much.
"Corey would be rolling his eyes and looking at me and saying, 'Oh, only you would do this, Aunt Julie'," she said, with a laugh.
The nuptials are between Julie's dogs Ted and Bailie, a Shih Tzu and Shih Tzu-Maltese, attended by their various legitimate and (illegitimate) offspring.
It's a Kardashian-sized affair - there's a huge ring and a couture bridal gown from the United States. There's even a scandal, of sorts. Bailie is more than twice Ted's age.
"She's a cougar, not a dog," family friend Robyn Page said, with a laugh.
The wedding, starting at 2pm on Sunday, will raise much-needed funds for The Alfred Foundation, in Corey's name. There will be a wishing well, raffles and a QR code to make a direct donation.
Corey's parents Susie and Jim, who live in Gungahlin, and his siblings Matt and Hayley, and grandmother Lorna Rapson will all be there.
Susie said the hospital, led by Professor Mark Fitzgerald, director of trauma services at The Alfred, did everything they could for her son.
"It's part of the healing process of losing Corey," Susie said.
"We want to acknowledge the work of the staff and help the foundation's research into head trauma."
Susie's father, the late Dr Bruce Morison, was a pioneering Canberra doctor and anaesthetist. She had a high regard for the medical profession, even before the tragic death of her son.
"He always talked about head trauma," she said, of her father.
Julie said the staff at The Alfred had been following all the preparations for the doggo wedding.
"There's puppy wedding fever at The Alfred," she said.
Corey had only moved to Melbourne eight months before the accident. He was a Canberra kid through and through. He grew up playing tennis at the Kippax Tennis Club, where a mural of him, organised by his mates, was unveiled in 2020.
Corey had his whole life ahead of him, keen to bring the expertise of the tennis academy in England back to Australia.
"And then we lost him. Through no fault of his own," Susie said.
A marathon on the Gold Coast and local tennis tournament have also been held in Corey's name. Now Sunday is a chance for the Canberra community to support Corey and his family at the whimsical puppy wedding. Some light where there's been darkness.
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