We travelled to Canada from the UK for a wedding and a holiday with our daughter, Ava, who was just over 1 year old. Ava unfortunately became unwell shortly after we arrived, and when she started to struggle with her breathing, we took her to the hospital to get her checked over.
Initially, my wife stayed overnight with Ava while I travelled between the hospital and a hotel 30 minutes away, multiple times in a rental car. Whilst I was sleeping at the hotel on the first night Ava was admitted, I received a panicked phone call from my wife saying that our daughter had deteriorated and she may need to go to the ICU if she didn't start to respond to treatment.
This was the worst part of the experience for my wife and I as our daughter was very unwell, we were in a foreign country and I wasn't able to stay close enough by to get back to the hospital quickly when needed.
Soon after, a nurse on the ward told us about Ronald McDonald House and this sounded great as we were otherwise considering booking a different hotel much closer to the hospital (which would have cost us around $1000 for the next 4 nights she was admitted).
When my wife checked-in at the House, she was overwhelmed with how kind and supportive the staff were as well as by how nice the accommodation itself was. We both felt a huge sense of relief that whilst one of us could stay with Ava in hospital, the other could stay nearby in a safe and comfortable property without any additional financial stress.
Lydia and I are so sincerely grateful to everyone who works at, volunteers at, and has donated to RMHC South Central Ontario!
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