The club has heard thousands of wonderful stories from Collingwood supporters recounting their favourite memories from the 2010 season.
Collingwoodfc.com.au wants to highlight these stories in a new segment "Tell us YOUR story".
Over the next few weeks, supporters can submit their memories from the 2010 season and Collingwoodfc.com.au will collate and publish them.
Email your 2010 story to mystory@collingwoodfc.com.au.
The story below was entered by Legends member Merilyn Rees, who recounts her last 12 months from almost losing her family in an earthquake in Samoa to hugging them after the premiership win.
The day after the 2009 Preliminary Final loss to Geelong, my husband, Frank and I flew to Samoa for a holiday - a good consolation prize after the big loss. I do not know what we would have done if the Pies had made the grand final, as our holiday had been planned for months.
For a week, we had the perfect holiday in a perfect place. Our daughter, Flik, joined us on the Sunday, for her university break.
On Tuesday morning, 29th September Samoan time, we were woken by a strong earthquake, which shook our beach-side wall but did no damage to its structure. We ran outside, and waited till the shaking finally ceased. I then tuned our small radio to the Radio Australia frequency, where there was a report of a 7.9 strength earthquake, south-west of American Samoa, making it very close to the southern coast of Samoa, where we were. I said we needed to get out and move inland quickly, at which time a siren sounded. We raced outside, but the tsunami wave was already breaking over the beach wall, and engulfing us as we ran.
The next hour was torture - I was washed inland underwater for several hundred metres, and knocked out. I awoke on a roof of a building surrounded by debris, and had no idea what had happened to my husband and daughter. Once the threat of further waves (there were three) had passed, we began the search for others, and fortunately my daughter found me, and said that my husband had also survived, but with significant chest injuries.
The next 36 hours were spent in a small hospital at Apia, where we and several other people from the resort were cared for. Five people staying at our resort had perished, and many more along the coast had died, especially children who had no hope of resisting the 50km/hour wall of water. Those of us in hospital had broken bones, lung damage from being underwater, deep cuts and bruising, complicated by contamination and infection from the filthy water. The Australian Government consular officials were working 24 hours a day, finding out who was in Samoa, looking after those who were injured and needed evacuating, and caring for those who had lost relatives.
We had lost everything we had with us- no documents, passports, ID, no mobile phones or credit cards, no money, no clothes or toiletries, no glasses (we all wear glasses or lenses). We were grateful to some consular officials and some local ex-pats, who brought toothbrushes, underwear, sarongs, T shirts, etc and loaned us their phones so we could contact family and our travel insurers.
The RAAF evacuated us to Amberley in Queensland, and we were then transported to Ipswich Hospital, where we received first rate care, and treatment commenced on broken bones, contaminated wounds, and deep seated infections in lungs and sinuses. The psychological trauma was also addressed, and help provided for what may be an ongoing stress for years to come.
One of the many touching moments in the many weeks of recuperation back in Melbourne, was the arrival of a letter from John, a fellow Legends member who sits in front of us in the Ponsford Stand, N34. He had read reports of the tsunami in the press, had seen our names and photos in the reports, and through some investigation, had found Frank's workplace address, and made contact. We were surprised and so pleased to receive his card and caring words.
Over the summer, we were again flattened, this time by the diagnosis of prostate cancer for Frank, and he required major surgery in February. However, with the love and prayers of family and friends, we did start to improve, and big steps were made when we finally walked into the surf at Fairhaven, and when our daughter was able to swim again in a pool. It is still hard to hear news of other tsunamis and earthquakes, and the dreams and thoughts of the disaster come again at times.
Leading up the start of the 2010 season, we were still having ongoing treatment, and in fact I had been in hospital just a few days before the first game at Docklands. The first game at the MCG became a very emotional time for us. We saw John, and his friends, and received big bear hugs from everybody in the group. People who sit along from us in our row, people who we know by sight only, came up to us and asked if we were okay, and said they had worried about us, and wondered how we were going. There was so much support from our fellow Magpie followers, and we felt strongly that we were part of a very large family!
It seemed to us that there were many more magpies in the parks and around the streets this year. When we ventured down to the Surf Coast, there were large flocks of the birds. Frank kept repeating "It's the Year of the Magpie". One of his colleagues, a keen Essendon supporter, said that although it was hard for him to say it, he thought that God owed us a premiership in 2010, after all that our family had endured!
We were inclined to agree!
And so it was to be, although we had to do it the hard way, with a draw, followed by a magnificent victory. Our seats at the re-match were on the fence in the Ponsford stand, near the behind post, and close to the cheer squad and the players' race. It was such an exciting and nervous time to share with my husband, our two sons and our daughter, after all that we had been through together in 12 months and one week. And the sheer joy of winning, and winning well was fabulous. After the match, on the concourse outside the MCG, we kept bumping into friends from the Ponsford Stand, and high fives and hugs were shared with these fellow members of the Magpie family. At the post-match party at AAMI stadium, we danced to Lionel Ritchie with the group who sit in front of us, and it was just such fun to be alive.
And as wandered along the Yarra later in the evening, after food and drink with other supporters, we bumped into Joffa, who looked like he had had the best day of his life!
So in the scheme of things, footy is a small part of all that our lives represent. But life is about being a part of the human race, and we need to love and cherish those people around us, wherever we are.
And that is what the Magpie Army has done for us this year. They have been side-by-side with us when we needed them. Thank you to the players and the supporters for 2010!
Merilyn Rees
Legends Member
