Imagine being faced with the News that your child is critically ill and will need special care in a hospital more than an hour away.
All of sudden everything nothing is normal and it takes all the strength and energy available to help the child and family make it through to a healthy recovery.
The consideration is where to sleep or get the next meal but people cannot ignore those basic needs for long. That’s why the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton was first established – to provide a home away from home for families so they can focus on their children.
For the Uddin family from Fergus, that was a heartbreaking reality when Abraham and his wife, Zdenka, found out their second child would be born nearly two months premature and seriously ill. The Uddins had never imagined they would ever need the facility, but after seven months of what seemed to be a healthy and normal pregnancy, everything changed. The couple had to head for McMaster Hospital in Hamilton.
After the premature birth of their son, Mikail, the Uddins stayed at the hospital, despite the stress of leaving their daughter at home.
Then they were told only one parent could stay at the hospital. Abraham Uddin took refuge in his car. With no home or family nearby, and a lost wallet, he had nowhere to go.
“I couldn’t bear to leave them. So I slept in my car. But I was so uncomfortable and worried, I hardly slept at all,” he said.
Then a social worker heard of the familiy’s plight and told him of Ronald McDonald House.
“When I walked in I cried immediately and for the first time since we came to Hamilton I felt relieved.”
The Uddins are one of hundreds of families from the area that have stayed there in times of need. Last year, more 175 families from the Waterloo Wellington area used the house, more than 30% of the total at the home in 2010. With more parents seeking its services, the reality is due to lack of space officials have to turn away about four families a day.
“It’s heartbreaking to have to have no space for them,” said executive director, Chantel Tunney. “It’s this need that prompted our expansion project to grow our home from 15 to 40 rooms this year, with the goal to help as many families as we can.”
The Udins are not the only local people who benefited from the house. Isabelle Christina Lougheed, of Arthur was born 6 ½ months ago at the Groves in Fergus. She was five weeks premature and had underdeveloped lungs. She was moved to the McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton where she stayed for four days.
Her parents were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while she was in the hospital. They needed to stay only for a short time but while they were there they met one lady who had been there for 94 days.
Isabelle’s family is asking for any donation people can give to the house, including food, new baby items, toys, dishes, utensils or cash.
Those are unsure what to give can visit the Ronald McDonald House website and view the 2011 wish list at http://www.rmhhamilton.ca/Donations/Wish-List.aspx. Make cheques payable to Ronald McDonald House Hamilton.
Or, to make a donation please call Meghan or Todd at 519-848-3929 or drop by 157 Clarke Street in Arthur. They will pick up any donations. Once the donation drive is over they will be driving down to Ronald McDonald House to drop it off themselves, and they will keep everyone posted on how they do. The donation drive will go from June 1 to July 5, so they ask people delay donating perishable food items until the end of the drive.
Uddin is also very grateful.
“Thanks to the McMaster Children’s Hospital, I was able to receive the care I needed and thanks to the Ronald McDonald House, I was able to have my family there with me. Thank you for your support as this means so much to my family and me,” he said.
Because of the support the Uddins received from the home, they became dedicated to giving back.
The Uddins are participating in the second annual Footsteps for Families Walk at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s F.H. Sherman Recreation Park in Stoney Creek on June 12 to raise money “to keep the lights on” in the expanded house.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for what the house has done for us. We will do whatever we can to help,” said Abraham.
People can donate or register to walk at www.footstepsforfamilies.com. Although located in Hamilton, the home’s primary purpose is to help families from visiting communities, who often have no where to else to turn.
It supplies everything from kitchen amenities to laundry facilities, while still giving families the opportunity to stay as close as possible to their children when they need them the most.
“It’s the little things you come to treasure, the milestones that Mikail is accomplishing every day that we are thankful for,” he said.
To donate or find out more ways to help the home, visit www.helpourhomegrow.com.
