Lachlan Smith was eight years old when leukemia wrapped its pernicious tentacles around his family.
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While his then three-year-old sister Georgia fought for her life at John Hunter Children's Hospital in Newcastle, as the Smith family spent about a year at McDonald's House supporting her, young Lachlan learned a valuable life lesson.
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It was a lesson learned not just from witnessing his sister's struggle but from witnessing other children fight for their lives at the hospital.
And it was this: greet each day with positivity and good cheer, because there are always people worse off than you.
Georgia is now "dealing with it really well", Smith said. "She's really happy, getting into sport. She's pretty much fine ... fingers crossed."
Smith, 21, will look to be a positive goalkeeping influence on his South United teammates as they attempt to win back-to-back matches for the first time this season, against Tamworth FC at Johnson Field on Saturday.
Smith returned to his childhood club this season after spending the previous two seasons refereeing - culminating in him handling last year's Premier League grand final.
The lure of playing in the top flight - after Souths' promotion to the revamped Premier League (now the Premier Division) this year - resulted in Smith stepping away from refereeing senior games, although he still referees junior games.
Tamworth teen Josh Attard, who refereed the Premier League reserve-grade finale last season, recently told the Leader that he was "different to other people" because he liked being in charge and under pressure.
Smith is the same.
"You've only got one chance of making a call," he said of refereeing. "And I think that's the same as me playing in goal: you've only got one chance to really make it right.
"And that's what I enjoyed out of it [referring]: the pressure. You've always got boys there questioning what you're doing. So you've gotta make sure you're right."
Souths beat Quirindi 1-0 last round. It was their first win of the season, and it moved them off the bottom of the table (Quirindi now occupy that spot).
Smith said: "At the start of the year we wanted to work hard and not embarrass ourselves, and try and put pressure on the likes of Tamworth FC and OVA - not be a walk in the park for them."
He added: "It hasn't been the best start of the year for us."
As for his own performances, Smith said there had been "a few games where I've been really upset with myself, definitely let the boys down".
"But all in all, I think it's been all right."
