Coffey's Good Friday Appeal

Star jockey Harry Coffey has encouraged people to throw their support behind Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital and its Good Friday Appeal this week.

Coffey's understanding of the importance of the Royal Children's Hospital in the Victorian community comes from his own experience throughout the course of his life.

"The Royal Children's Hospital is an amazing place and I spent a lot of time there as a kid," Coffey said.

"I've got cystic fibrosis, was diagnosed with that at six weeks old because of the heal prick, my parents would have been a little bit confused with what was going on.

"We visited the hospital regularly, especially in my teenage years, I spent a lot of time in there with admissions, I'd go to the hospital three or four times a year for 10 or 14 days for what we'd call were 'tune-ups', which was medication daily through an IV line, plenty of physiotherapy."

WATCH: Why the Good Friday Appeal is special for Coffey

Coffey is now a dual Group 1-winning jockey who's scaled new heights in his career over the past 12 months and credits the Royal Children's Hospital with him being in the position that he's currently in.

"Without the Children's Hospital, I probably wouldn't be riding today," he said.

"They kept me fit and well, healthy and were able to make me turn out into a pretty healthy young adult."

The boy from Swan Hill emphasised just how significant the Good Friday Appeal is to so many people each year.

"For me, the Good Friday Appeal is truly amazing, it's so important because that hospital means so much to me and I know how important it is and how it can change people's lives for the better," Coffey said.

"There's nothing more important than raising money for that because you never know when you'll need the Royal Children's and if you don't need it directly yourself, I'm sure there's someone that you're close to that's got a child or will have a child that needs the Children's at some stage.

"There's a no-brainer in raising money and donating."