“Dearest Moana,

You probably get a stack of these, but we wanted to write to you regardless, to tell you what you are doing for girls across the country…

Before our daughter’s depression got the best of her, we dragged her down to the local footy club. Shortly afterwards, she came to me after finding a podcast you did on Mamamia. That day, she declared that you had so many obstacles, but just kept fighting, and so she would too!

As parents who sat outside her room, because we were scared of what we would find in the morning, we want to thank you, although thank you will never be enough.”

Moana Hope has always insisted she is not a hero.

The AFLW player doesn’t wear a cape. It would slow her down too much on the footy field.

But as cliched as it sounds, we all know real heroes don’t wear capes. They, like Moana, are just everyday people doing extraordinary things, whether anyone is watching or not.

Recently, the footballer received a letter, an extract from which is featured above, from a mum called Kimberley. In a three-page letter, Kimberley wrote to Moana about how just by being herself and living her life, she had inspired her daughter, Laura, to keep living hers.

This, to us, is the definition of a changemaker.(You can read Kimberley’s full letter to Moana below.)

Although many might know Moana Hope as the breakthrough superstar of the AFL women’s competition, as Mia Freedman put it when she interviewed Moana on the No Filter podcast, “sport is probably the least interesting about her”.

She’s one of 14 kids and quit school at the age of 10 to take care of her dying father. She runs her own traffic management company and employs over 70 people. And at 26, Moana became the sole carer for her disabled sister Lavinia, or Vinnie, who lives with Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological condition affecting facial muscle and eye movement.

Vinnie is something of a social media star thanks to the beautiful glimpses we see of Moana’s relationship with her sister on Instagram.

She’s warm and cheeky, as despite her sister playing for the Kangaroos, Vinnie loves the Adelaide Crows – her favourite Crows player is Erin Phillips.

In Moana’s words, “She is my everything and my daily motivation.”

The birthday