Australia only has three children’s hospices. This dad is changing that.
Ryan Fowler isn’t your typical CEO. He isn’t obsessed with sales targets or metrics. He’s running one of the country’s most important charities, but eight years ago, he was just a dad facing the hardest of goodbyes.
The story of how Ryan would eventually raise over $33 million and create Australia’s newest children’s hospice begins with his son, Rio. He was 17 months old, obsessed with trains, and diagnosed with a terminal condition so rare it has no name.
“Rio was our train-loving little boy, who taught us more about love, resilience and perspective than we could have ever imagined,” Ryan shares.
When Rio died in 2018, Ryan and his wife Karen found themselves in that dark place every parent fears; the children’s hospital, with the realisation Rio wasn’t ever going home. But they also discovered something else: Bear Cottage in Manly, a children’s hospice that gave them something precious in those final days.
Rio’s parents, Karen and Ryan Fowler
“Bear Cottage saved us,” Ryan reflects. “It brought us together when we needed it most. It let us be a family.”
That experience opened Ryan’s eyes. Across Australia, there were only three children’s hospices. Three facilities for a country where 400,000 children live with a life-limiting condition, and more than 28,000 have terminal diagnoses.
To put that in perspective, in the UK, there are over 50 facilities. Australia should have at least 16.
For families in Western Sydney, the choice was heartbreaking: stay close to home without proper support, or travel hours for specialist palliative care.
Ryan’s response was to start running. Not weekend park runs, but epic marathons that would eventually cover 25,578 kilometres. Each run raised funds and inspired conversations that most people couldn’t bear to think about.
“The club industry has an important part to play.”
Jodie Harrison
“When a doctor tells you they can’t save your child, that’s when a hospice steps in,” Ryan explains. “But if you live in Western Sydney, there was nowhere to go.”
Rio’s Legacy, the charity Ryan and Karen founded, raised about $1 million over several years. Though an incredible effort, it wasn’t enough. He needed help, and in 2023, finishing one of his marathon runs at Oran Park, he found it in the most unexpected place.
Representatives from the Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL team were there to support him. Nici Andronicus, general manager of the GIANTS Foundation, introduced him to Dale Hunt, CEO of Mounties Group. It was a meeting that would change everything.
Rio Fowler was just 18 months old when he died
“From that moment, Dale, Mounties, and their entire community took a leap of faith and embraced our vision,” Ryan says.
Hunt and Mounties Group didn’t just offer support. They went all in. First, with $3 million in seed funding that allowed Ryan to run Rio’s Legacy full-time, then with an unprecedented $13 million commitment over 10 years. It’s the largest donation to children’s health in NSW history by a registered club.
“The Mounties Care Cottage is one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever been involved in,” Mounties CEO Dale Hunt says. “We’re going to work together into the future to make sure that this passion, this dream, this important legacy for our local people is delivered and becomes a reality.”
With Mounties behind him, Ryan then approached the NSW Government. His pitch was straightforward: Western Sydney families facing their worst nightmare shouldn’t have to choose between staying close to home and accessing proper care.
The government’s response exceeded all expectations. In April 2025, they announced over $20 million in funding. Combined with the Mounties’ contribution, the total investment reached more than $33 million.
The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation and Network joined the partnership, creating an unprecedented collaboration between community groups, elite sports, government, and healthcare providers.
Mounties Care Cottage will be built within The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, strategically positioned where families can access both cutting-edge medical care and the unwavering support that hospices provide.
“These places don’t just care for the child, they embrace the whole family,” Ryan explains. “They let you be together, hold each other, and make every moment count, no matter how long or short your child’s life might be.”
The hospice is expected to open in 2028, the year Rio would have turned 10. What started as one family’s grief has become something much larger. The success of the Mounties Care Cottage campaign has put paediatric palliative care firmly on the national agenda.
For Ryan, securing the funding and seeing his vision come to life is both humbling and surreal.
“To be honest, it’s still sinking in,” Ryan says. “At the heart of it, I’m just a dad trying to help – trying to make sure other families have the support we were lucky enough to receive.
“I’ll never take for granted the belief that’s been shown in us. To have the community, Mounties, and the NSW Government all come together behind this vision is something I’ll be forever grateful for.”
When the doors open in 2028, Western Sydney families will finally have what every family deserves: care, dignity and the chance to focus on love rather than logistics during their most difficult moments.
