World Police & Fire Games partners with Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation ahead of international event

Kids who need help from Perth Children’s Hospital will be the clear winners when thousands of athletes descend on WA next year for the 2027 World Police & Fire Games.

Games organisers have forged a new community partnership with PCH Foundation ahead of the games’ debut in a year’s time, when Perth will host up to 10,000 competitors from about 70 countries.

To celebrate the partnership, three PCHF ambassadors — 12-year-old Ruth Davey, Tyler Stewart, 10, and Nate Fearnall, 9, — on Thursday challenged local first responders to a series of games events, including tug-of-war, mini golf and cornhole.

All three kids have spent long hours in hospital. Ruth and Nate have lived with cerebral palsy all their lives, while Tyler sustained severe burns and a badly-broken leg half-way through a family holiday a year ago.

Tyler’s parents, Rebecca and Matt, said they had been celebrating Christmas Day in New York in 2024 when a taxi veering out of control hit them from behind.

“The driver had a medical episode behind the wheel,” Ms Stewart said. “We didn’t even see it coming.”

Tyler still has multiple surgeries to go through, she added, so the games would give him something positive to look forward to.

Games executive director, Inspector Jeremy Petersen, said entry was open to all serving, retired and volunteer members of law enforcement, fire, corrections, emergency services and paramedics.

“By creating these partnerships with PCH Foundation, we’re in a unique position to connect with our own community and connect with kids and their families in an environment that isn’t a crisis situation,” he said.

PCH Foundation chief executive Carrick Robinson said the games would give children being treated at the hospital the chance to engage with first responders in a more light-hearted and joyful way.

It was also a “fantastic opportunity” to raise funds for Kids Rehab WA, which helped children who had been seriously ill learn to walk and talk again.

Paramedic Taryn Mildenhall — who plans to enter the open-water swim and half-marathon at the games — said she was passionate about supporting PCH because of everything it had done for her three-year-old son, who has a rare genetic syndrome.

The games are held every two years, but next year will mark the first time they have been staged in Perth. Adelaide was the last Australian city to host the international event in 2007.