By JESSE GRAHAM
PUT on your best mask and get your gown (or suit) – a masquerade ball is coming, with money going towards a Healesville teenager’s awareness campaign.
The Masquerade for Catie event will be held on Saturday 15 March at the York on Lilydale in Mount Evelyn, running from 8-10pm.
The event invites members of the community to put on their best disguise and go all-out with their costumes for the ball, which will raise money for Healesville teenager Catie Barlow.
Catie, who has campaigned to raise awareness of porphyria while undergoing treatment for the terminal illness, said that profits would go towards her trip across the Nullarbor – one of the items on her bucket list.
She said the money would also go towards future events raising awareness of the disease, and raising money for her treatment.
“I want to go across the Nullarbor – though my number one is to raise awareness of porphyria,” the 17-year-old said.
“I want to do little things that you don’t really get to do every day, before I’m too sick to be able to do anything.”
This year marks the second Masquerade for Catie event, and Catie said that around 150 people attended the last ball – a number she would like to see topped.
“Everyone goes all out, and it ended up being huge and spectacular,” she said.
Catie said the idea for the masquerade ball came from her not getting to have her debutante ball in school, due to her illness, and the masks represent the mysteries that surround the disease.
Porphyria is a hereditary disease, and is a group of different disorders caused by abnormalities in chemical processes in the body – it can flare up at any time from a number of causes.
People with porphyria can’t stay exposed to the sun, and can experience problems with their nervous system, resulting in pains, paralysis, vomiting and a myriad of other symptoms.
Entry to the Masquerade for Catie event will cost $40 per person for adults, $20 for 13-17-year-olds and children under 12 will enter for free.
Finger food is provided, and prizes, raffles and the crowning of the Masquerade Balls’ King, Queen, Prince and Princess are all features of the event.
Tickets can be bought by calling the York on Lilydale on 9736 4000 or Bron on 0497 111 139.
