A Samoan who is battling leukemia in Australia will receive about A$12,000 (T$22,448) from family and friends in Samoa to assist with his treatment. 

His family and friends did a fundraising last month which included a rigorous 2.5 kilometer bear-crawling and running exercise as well as shaving their heads.  

The bear-crawling exercise, which was organised by Orion Keil, was one of three fundraising events the family led to help their cousin who grew up in Lotopa.

Orion's wife May told the Samoa Observer on the day of the fundraising that they made close to $5,000 from that particular event.

"Orion, Rob, Emosi and Tamafaiga, they are doing the bear crawl and then there is Clint and Victor and Michael who are running.

"Michael has some weights on him, I don’t know how much but it's a lot. Reached just under $5,000 today, after the head shave we’ll put all the money together and find out in total how much we’ve got," she said.

Some members of the family shaved their heads, added May, with the funds raised also going to the initiative. 

"Then we’re going to go back home and shave our heads and that will be Orion, Kolani, Clint and myself and my son, and all the funds will go straight to Jonathan and his wife.

"Nothing to the procedures, just straight to the family to hopefully help them," she added.