FNAME, we couldn't wait to tell you!
Our new heart health ambassador
Sir Peter Cosgrove
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Dear FNAME,
With celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Australian-led InterFET peacekeeping mission in full swing in Timor-Leste, we've just had the greatest news – and we wanted you to be the first to know.
The Australian peacekeeping hero and former Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, has joined us as a heart health ambassador!
Sir Peter joins East Timor Hearts Fund’s other ambassadors and patrons, the “Father of Timor-Leste”, His Excellency Xanana Gusmao; Timorese Olympian Anche Cabral; and Australia’s only Timorese-Australian AFL player, Lin Jong.
In Dili, Sir Peter was welcomed to the new role by his namesake, four-year-old Peter Cosgrove Pinto, who presented Sir Peter with a traditional woven tais.
After successful heart surgery in Australia in 2014, our patient Tomas and his wife Barbara welcomed a new baby boy to their family. They named him Peter Cosgrove, in honour of the peacekeeping hero and all of the Australians who donated to save Tomas’s life.
“As an ambassador for East Timor Hearts Fund I look forward to playing a role at the frontline of the fight against rheumatic heart disease in Timor-Leste. It’s a battle I want to win,” Sir Peter said.
We are all incredibly honoured and excited to welcome our new ambassador.
Timor-Leste has among the world's highest rates of preventable, treatable rheumatic heart disease, with one in 20 girls affected. This is a tragic injustice for our friends in Timor-Leste. We look forward to having Sir Peter by our side as we work with the Timorese to help tackle this crisis.
We'll have more news to share about our new ambassador soon. Please follow us on social media to stay up to date.
David Marlow
CEO, East Timor Hearts Fund
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WATCH: Peter Cosgrove Junior meets Sir Peter Cosgrove – and almost steals the show!
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