Wakefield Park supports Camilleri family with fundraiser

In September, Camilleri raced his Legend Car in Wisconsin at the US National Championships.

He had earned this honour by starring in the Australian Nationals just a few weeks earlier, where he claimed the nation's number one ranking and then won the opportunity to race in America.

During the race in Wisconsin, Camilleri's car rolled and burst into flames, and it was his father, James Camilleri, who led an impromptu crash crew onto the track in an attempt to extricate Nathan from the wreck.

Eventually, the flames were extinguished and the car rolled upright, but the 23-year-old driver could not move his arms or legs.

Camilleri was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that his C3, C4, and C5 vertebrae were fractured in the crash.

Thanks to prompt surgery, Camilleri's nine-day stint in the hospital led to the recovery of movement in his arms and legs.

However, the expenses from his unscheduled delay and subsequent travel costs, time off from work, and the cost of repairing the car have piled up.

"We've still got a fair bit of money to cover to pay for [those expenses], just to take a bit of pressure off the family," John Dennehy of Legends Cars Australia said.

As it is a busy period on the race calendar, Dennehy knows that drivers will struggle to attend the fundraiser, but he hopes to get 100 or so people to attend.

Several worthwhile prizes will be auctioned on the night, including rides in a two-seater supercar, a two-seater legend car, and some season passes for the Tamworth speedway.

"We've got around $10,000 to pay for the car, we're hoping to cover the cost of the car [on the night]," Dennehy said. "Anything else will go back to the family and help with their ongoing expenses."

Camilleri and his family are based in western Sydney, but are "heavily embedded" in the racing community, Dennehy said, and due to the difficulty of organising similar events at dirt tracks, Wakefield Park became a front runner to host.

Dennehy described the support from Wakefield Park operations manager, Dean Chapman, as "awesome".

"It's much easier to do it at a national track, it's impossible to do at eastern creek," Dennehy said.

"The people at Wakefield Park are tremendous and more of a family."

The fundraiser for Nathan Camilleri will take place at Wakefield Park on Friday, December 13, from 7pm.

For more information, contact John Dennehy on 0418 265 461, or email john@legendcarsaustralia.com.au.

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