If his story were different, young Rio James Fowler would soon be celebrating his 10th birthday with his loving parents, Ryan and Karen, and siblings Remi, now 12, and Levi, now 5.

Sadly, Rio passed away on January 15, 2018, aged almost 18 months, from a rare condition called arterial vasculopathy disease. Rio’s little arteries failed to supply enough blood to organs and blood vessels, which progressively shut down his body.

Rio’s short journey from diagnosis to palliative care in NSW’s only dedicated paediatric hospice, The Bear Cottage at Manly, took just a few weeks, but the intensive work that has followed his passing to raise awareness and funds through the charity that bears his name to build more paediatric hospices is the subject of a talk by his father, Ryan Fowler, at the Narromine Aero Club this weekend.

Ryan will speak at a lunch hosted by the Narromine Lions Club on Sunday, March 8, raising funds for Rio’s Legacy, the charity named for his infant son.

The former Scots College boarding house master and tennis director – now CEO of Rio's Legacy – knows many locals who studied and boarded at the college during his years there. He will talk about the need for more paediatric hospices in Australia, and the one his charity will open in 2027 in Western Sydney – Mounties Care Cottage.

“There are a lot of families in the region that are connected through Scots College,” he said.

“Rugby player Jeremy Williams has family near Tottenham and is one of our ambassadors,” he added.

The Western Force captain won the Lion Community Service Award last December at the 2025 Rugby Union Players’ Association Awards in recognition of his support for Rio’s Legacy.

Since 2018, Ryan has completed six physical challenges across multiple states of Australia covering a distance of 25,578 km, including 12,241 km of cycling and 13,337 km of running. Some $1.78 million was raised from those efforts and other awareness work.

In May 2025, the NSW Government pledged $20 million to support the construction of the new Western Sydney paediatric hospice, supported by a $13 million commitment over 10 years from profit-for-purpose organisation The Mounties Group through the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Children’s hospices are important, Ryan said, because they provide respite as well as end-of-life care and help put families struggling through paediatric palliative care back together.

With one being constructed in Perth and expected to open this year, Mounties Care Cottage in Western Sydney will be the fifth paediatric hospice in Australia. It’s a far cry from the UK, which has more than 50 paediatric hospices.

“Hospitals save lives but hospices save families,” Ryan has said many times. He truly believes it.

“For most palliative care, you think about adults. You don't really think about kids,” he told Dubbo Photo News.

“At the time, we had no information about palliative care so I was initially against going to Bear Cottage. But what that place did for my boy, but also for my family – my four-year-old daughter, my wife – they just looked after us. They put us back together,” Ryan explained.

“There's a study [that says] close to 75 to 80 per cent of marriages or relationships break down after a child is diagnosed or they lose a child. That's a harrowing stat, and I'm so proud that my wife and I are not part of that. But this is where the hospice put us back together.”

Tickets for the fundraising luncheon on Sunday, March 8, cost $25 and include a light lunch. Bookings can be made online at www.123tix.com.au/events/51715/rios-legacy. Further information about Rio's Legacy can be found on the charity's website.