Staring across the blackened floor of Perth’s Arena, a tall man, with a very big grin has his arms outstretched. Bouncing towards him is a two-year-old with blond curls, squealing, “Andadda, Andadda!”
Rick Ardon, long-time Channel 7 presenter and one of the ‘faces’ of Telethon, sweeps the little boy into his arms and perches him on his knee. The celebrities sitting alongside on the Telethon panel, seem equally delighted to meet their newest member. As the broadcast crosses to the phone room and the dollars on the screen continue to dial into the millions, the two generations meld into one another. The older Ardon smiles… his grandson snuggles in, nonplussed to be sitting onstage, under bright TV lights, in front of a studio audience of more than two thousand.
The little boy might be underwhelmed by the circumstances, but Rick Ardon says being a first-time grandfather has reinforced the way he feels about Telethon.
“Absolutely,” he says. “Seeing the little kids faces is what’s really moved me this year and it does feel extra special.”
“The kids are just so delightful, so beautiful and so innocent.”
Telethon is a uniquely West Australian phenomena that started in 1968 and has fostered generations of generosity.
The telecast includes television personalities, high profile entertainers, sporting stars, Channel 7 news crew and a handful of special young children affected by illness make up the “talent”. It is 26 hours of continuous entertainment, with every minute tightly scheduled to ensure a maximum of millions is raised. And every dollar raised goes towards helping sick kids.
“The research Telethon does, and the money it raises to saves lives is just so wonderful,” says Ardon.
He has experienced first-hand the life-saving impact of the work of WA doctors.
“My personal story is, I nearly died when I was five,” he says.
“I was in year one at school and they wheeled me into Princess Margaret Hospital, and they didn’t know what was wrong with me.”
Too weak to have surgery and with doctors perplexed as to his diagnosis, luck came in the form of a very young Dr Peter Silberstein, who had just returned to WA after conducting specialist neurology research in Adelaide. Silberstein worked out Ardon was suffering with an infection of the brain – encephalitis – and young Ardon’s life was saved.
“My dear old mum is ninety-eight and a half and she still constantly reminds me how lucky I am to be here,” he says.
“She still remembers me saying, ‘Mummy I don’t want to die.’
“Research into childhood diseases saved my life and is now saving many other lives, thanks to the generosity of West Australians.”
Rick Ardon has been an integral part of Telethon, in tandem with his television news presenting partner Susannah Carr, since 1978. And they’ve seen it all – from cream pie faces to Sammy Davis Junior, Michael Jackson and David ‘Kochie’ Koch sliding on his knees across the dance floor.
But for Ardon the opportunity to see improvements in the health of Telethon kids, from one year to the next, is particularly rewarding.“Little Nate, our Telethon star from 2024, is walking better than people thought he would at this stage,” he says.
“The research Telethon does, and the money it raises to saves lives is just so wonderful.”
At the heart of Telethon – the children of Western Australia. And it is often children themselves, who are pledging their pocket money, or selling lemonade on their front lawns so that the millions of dollars raised can be distributed across 163 different child-focused organisations in Western Australia. Ardon says he’s grateful big business in Western Australia is also incredibly generous in its financial commitment to Telethon. This year, strong corporate donations helped the charity to reach a record-breaking tally of $90,160,275.
Even more startling is the fact Telethon 2025 took the charity’s tally since its inception 57 years ago, to more than $750 million.
To celebrate the milestone, the many faces of Telethon including TV stars, volunteers, dancers, camera operators, production assistants and even the floor manager – all lined up, arms on shoulders, to perform the famous Conga-line dance. As the chain of side-kicking happy humans snaked across the dance floor the viewers in their loungerooms across Western Australia were all likely to have been singing the same tune.
‘Thank you very much for your kind donation.”
Fat Cat may have gone to sleep at 7 o’clock, along with Rick Ardon’s cherubic grandson. But for this Western Australian icon, the joy of grandparenthood needs no fanfare. A little boy running up to his ‘Andadda’ is everything.
And Ardon’s warm smile says it all.
Thank you very much, thank you very, very much…
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Great reporting Jo. Very positive and well written.