All posts in Stories

Little Samiya’s letter

My daughter’s name is Samiya Anju Bahall. Our family lives in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, she is our first and only baby and she’s a mere 17months old. She was born in November 2010, a happy and healthy baby girl. She has never been ill and has had appropriate milestones for her age till 10 months. After 10 months we started noticing that she was not speaking as much as before. She was initially saying words like, “mama, dada,up, yum yum” and she gradually stopped. She was no longer responding to being called and she would not react to loud noises or sounds as she initially would. This got us suspicious and we informed our pediatrician. He suggested a hearing test and she had one which was inconclusive in our island. Her pediatrician recommended further formal testing and we came to Miami for such.

We came to Miami at the beginning of February and devastatingly our daughter was diagnosed with bilateral profound deafness. This meant she could not hear at all. The doctors confirmed she was not born deaf but somehow progressively lost her hearing. As a result of the only options was for her to undergo Cochlear Implantation. This surgery allows an artificial “bionic” cochlear to replace her defective ones and thus restore hearing and allow for speech. This surgery was extremely costly and since we are non nationals of the United States and had no insurance we had to pay the full cost. We luckily and thankfully through the help of our families at home and some noon governmental organizations were able to afford the surgery. Our daughter successfully underwent bilateral cochlear implants on the 24th February.

We returned home 1 week after the surgery but had to return to Miami for activation and programming of her devices one month after. Luckily a social worker mentioned to us about the Ronald McDonald House and we decided to contact the institution. The reception at Ronald McDonald House Charity was one we will never forget. The person over the telephone was friendly and very helpful and arranged for our stay on our return to Miami with no questions asked. On arrival at the House we were met by Silvana who was so soft spoken and warm and friendly. She immediately checked us in after our long flight and took us to our room. We then spent 5 weeks at the Ronald McDonald House in Fort Lauderdale.

That is one experience we will never forget. The staff is like family as they are always there with a smile and a helping hand. Families at the House were also so friendly and welcoming. They all showed us around and made our stay comfortable and memorable. We will never forget the Easter hunts and the numerous lunches and dinners that so many families and organizations held at the Ronald McDonald House in order to make the families stay so much easier.

Words cannot fully or truly even begin to express how extremely grateful my family and I are to the RMHC. Thanks also to the families, schools and organizations that give not only financially but also of their valuable time to come in to the House and meet and experience the families and their stories.

We are but only one of the numerous families that the Ronald McDonald House has helped and will continue to help. We would like to say Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and lots of love and keep up the GREAT work!!!!!

Yours sincerely,

Samiya

2 days ago / Tagged: 30 year anniversary, heart chain campaign, rmhc south florida, ronald mcdonald house charities of south florida, samiya's story 0

Daniel and his family are a link in the HEART CHAIN

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – by: Everything Murphy…

After Daniel left us for Heaven, our family (and friends) began actively collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. While our son was in the hospital, we stayed at the Miami facility for twenty nights. And our total bill was less than $300. It was such a blessing.

Last year—about this same time—I drove Madi and a few of her preschool friends down to the Ronald McDonald House in FTL to deliver our second annual collection of pop tabs. Our stash had grown from the year before. In fact, we had gobs of them. It was such a successful and meaningful trip for the girls that Peggie (the preschool director) offered to distribute a flyer to all of the preschool parents and church parishioners at the beginning of the new school year about our fundraising efforts.

Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by a mother named Pamela, who was feeling called upon by God to provide for the same cause. Through our email correspondence, it was revealed that her four year old son (who attended the same preschool as Madi) had Tetralogy of Fallot as a baby, just like Daniel. Not only was he operated on in the same hospital as our son, but also by the hands of the very same surgeon. Pamela’s family had stayed in the same Ronald McDonald House as we had. The two of us had goose bumps as we read each other’s emails, and uncovered so many parallels in our lives. The Holy Spirit had indeed put us together. Pamela distributed a beautiful letter to her daughter’s school in a neighboring town to spread word of our shared pop tab initiative.

And over the course of the year, we continued to collect tabs. Jimmy picked up several large loads of pop tabs from the school, and we stored them in our garage. I mean lots of them—in Ziploc bags, in plastic jugs, water bottles and in milk crates—all donated by the parishioners and preschool families.

When it was time to plan our delivery to the Ronald McDonald House last month, my heart was tugging at me. It bothered me that only a few children (ten to fifteen max) would be able to partake in a tour of the house and the “passing of the pop tabs” when so many people had been involved in the collection process. We clearly needed a different approach. So I decided to email Ronald McDonald himself and share our story with him. We quickly received a call from his kind assistant, Lorraine, and the ball began rolling.

The plan was set to have Ronald show up on May 5^th at the preschool to entertain as many kids as we could possibly gather. It was heartwarming to think that so many people would be included in the fun, especially since so many people had worked throughout the year to collect tabs in Daniel’s memory. This was certainly not one family’s project—it was widespread, and it was a beautiful collaborative effort.

Madi and I spent the last couple of weekends consolidating all of the tabs into several extra-large, extra-sturdy lawn bags. We ended up with approximately 134 pounds of tabs. That equals almost 170,000 of them—enough to provide a family with five nights at a Ronald McDonald House!

When we arrived at the school Saturday morning, we were amazed to find a large cardboard box filled with many more tabs and yet another very large plastic bag with an attached note that read:

“Dear Murphy Family,

From the hearts and hands of the students, families, faculty, and staff at A.D. Henderson and FAU High, we would like to present you with this year’s collective effort in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities. Thank you for inspiring good deeds in others. May our pond continue to ripple.”

The note was from Pamela, the lovely mother whom I mentioned earlier. You can only imagine how that generous act of charity brought tears to our eyes. And then, Peggie handed me a wrapped package from “one mama to another.” It was also from Pamela. I opened the present to find the coolest necklace and earrings that were made from pop tabs! It was such a special and meaningful gift, and it was quite a touching way to kick off our celebration.

As the time for Ronald’s appearance grew closer, we were joined by many families—some of them friends, some of them preschool children and parents, some of them church parishioners. It was a wonderful turnout. And Ronald was a wonderful entertainer. He told jokes and did magic tricks. All the kids—and the adults—truly enjoyed his performance. At the end, we presented Ronald with our pop tab collection, which he graciously accepted on behalf of the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

It was a great day. Much more awareness was created about the pop tab program, and we feel certain that our sweet angel was smiling down upon us. Our life’s work is to keep Daniel alive by sharing his spirit. Thanks little buddy.

To learn more about Daniel and see how you can help visit with an open heart

3 days ago / Tagged: Daniel's story, heart chain campaign, pop tab program, rmhc south florida 1

Angela Bushi’s story

By Frances Robles

Angela Bushi is one of our special guests at the Ronald McDonald House of Miami and a link in the heart chain. Read her miraculous story as it was published in the Miami Herald last March 8th 2012……

After two stints in the hospital and more than a month on a ventilator, in December doctors gave her a new liver, pancreas and two kidneys donated from a 5-month old in Georgia. Only Angela’s diseased liver was removed. Her own two kidneys and pancreas were left in place. Removing them “was another surgery she didn’t need,” Tzakis said.

“In reality what we do reminds me of the gymnastics you see on the Olympics,” he added. “Are they nervous up there? I don’t think so. They’ve done this so many times, but they have to concentrate. They need to perform perfectly and land perfectly.”

University of Utah doctor Marvin Rallison first discovered the disease in a family he treated in the 1960s. Now in his 80s and wintering in Arizona, Rallison said he had only heard of one case in the United States and just 17 families affected around the world, including a few in the Middle East. He suspects Angela will some day be afflicted by growth and intellectual deficiencies most of the Wolcott-Rallison Syndrome patients suffer from, but in her case the disease won’t be fatal….

read the entire article

65 days ago 0

Esteban’s Story

Esteban Sarmiento is a handsome young man from Ecuador. He is staying at the Miami House while receiving treatment for Retinoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer.

It is highly curable when diagnosed and treated early. However, there are less than 40 % retinoblastoma survivors in several developing countries, among whom there is a high rate of partially sighted people due to late diagnosis and a lack of access to specialized care.

87 days ago 1

Jacob’s story

Jacob and his family stayed at the Miami House. He just received a small intestine liver and pancreas Transplant. and he is doing very well!

95 days ago 4

The Story of Tom Sherlock

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Tom Sherlock, age 80, retired Metro Dade Fire Lieutenant.

I have been a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House for more than 30 years. When I first started to save pop tabs as part of the Tab-a-Thon fundraiser, they had to be delivered by car to the Fort Myers House.

For the last ten years or so I have been bringing my tabs to the Broward County House. I try to bring from 40 to 60lbs of tabs every four to six weeks. I personally donate a check for $20.00 at each delivery. If my wife and I were lucky enough to win the state lottery, there would indeed be a sizable donation made to the Ronald McDonald Charities.

It’s indeed been an honor to be able to assist the Ronald McDonald Charities throughout my fire career and my semi-retirement life. I’m thankful that the good lord has enabled me to help others at their times of need.

Respectfully,

Thomas Sherlock

121 days ago 1

Carolyn Price Testimonial

In May of 2010, my husband and I adopted a baby girl who much to our surprise, came 12 weeks early, weighing only 1 pound 14 ounces. As a result, she was placed in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit in a Miami hospital for 11 1/2 weeks. We live in Nashville, Tennessee and had not planned on having an extended stay in Miami. We were left without a place to stay and with a seriously premature baby who was going to be in the NICU for weeks.

I had always heard wonderful things about the Ronald McDonald House of Miami (RMH), but had never really known much about it. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for RHM, it’s amazing staff and volunteers, and all the wonderful families who were there with us during our three month stay. I stayed at RMH during our daughter’s time in NICU and my husband flew back and forth from Nashville as much as he could. It was such a gift to me to have a “home” in an unfamiliar city during a time of great fear and stress with a baby in the hospital, in critical condition. It is a wonderfully warm and welcoming environment. Having a home cooked meal prepared by loving volunteers waiting for me at the end of an emotionally and physically exhausting day was a blessing beyond words. I was deeply touched by the kindness and generosity of the other families staying at RMH; we all really bonded and tried to support one another. I never felt alone even though I was far from my home and family.

We happily report that our daughter now 14 months old, is doing wonderful and is the star of our family. We will never forget our experience at RMH and hope some day to get back to Miami to visit and introduce her to the staff. We also hope to start volunteering at the Nashville RMH with our daughter next year as we want her to know the important role Ronald McDonald House played in our adoption story.

Carolyn Price

122 days ago 4

Earth Angels and RMHC

- A Match Made In Heaven -

Earth Angels is an all volunteer non-profit organization whose mission is to help create joyous memories for children and adults with life threatening illnesses and their families.

For the past 17 years, Jorge Woods and his volunteer task force, Earth Angels, have made life a little easier for South Floridians facing life-threatening illnesses.

Jorge Woods had high hopes when he founded Earth Angels in 1995, but needed a place to begin his mission. The Ronald McDonald House in Miami opened their doors shortly thereafter to Jorge’s team, who still visit the house regularly to provide whatever the families need at no cost to them– games, local field trips, arts and crafts, a friend to listen and a shoulder to lean on. Earth Angels is still going strong, providing programs and an environment where kids, adults and their families find compassion, care, unconditional love, laughter and much more.

For more information on Earth Angels, please visit www.earthangel.org

122 days ago 2

Letter from Pam Prejean

- Volunteer Ronald McDonald House Fort Lauderdale -

Once “Buddy” became certified as a pet therapy dog, his owner Pam Prejean knew exactly where he needed to work: The Fort Lauderdale Ronald McDonald House.

Volunteering at the Fort Lauderdale Ronald McDonald House has been such a positive experience for us, much more than I expected. It is difficult for the families, of course, the kids, to be away from home and I believe that simply petting a dog can be therapeutic. Maybe for them, it’s a small taste of home.

Buddy is always very excited when we get to the house and anxious to see the families. And he definitely doesn’t like to leave. Most of the time, I have to coax him into the car with a doggy treat. We have had such a great time getting to know the families and hope they get as much out of our visits as we do.

Pam Prejean (Volunteer)

122 days ago 2

Angelina’s Story

My daughter, Angelina Burgos, was diagnosed with Chronic Liver disease in March of 2010, she was 6. Of course, nothing can prepare a parent for something like that. At the age of 6, she was fighting for her life and in need of a liver transplant. In June 2010, I received a call that would end up saving her life. I was informed that a donor had been found and we would need to get to the hospital as soon as possible. At around 10 p.m., we frantically packed up our things and left for Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Once we arrived, she quickly received her transplant and her healing process was underway. I was told that she would need to be monitored daily for nearly a month after the transplant to make sure that the transplant continued to function properly.

We had been informed that we would be allowed to stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Miami (RMH) on the Hospital’s grounds. During our stay at the RMH, our experience can only be described as amazing. The RMH staff was great. They were friendly, attentive and helpful during the entire length or our stay. They provided anything and everything we needed and were always supportive throughout the entire experience. They kept the facility very clean, which is crucial for any transplant patient. The location of the RMH is also fantastic as it is within close walking distance to the hospital and transplant clinic.

If I had to choose what I thought to be the greatest aspect of Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida, it would be that you always have everything you need, no matter how big or how small. I can remember when we first arrived at the house; my daughter was still very weak and not able to walk very far. The RMH staff noticed this and promptly loaned me a stroller to help us get around. My daughter, Angelina, considered the Game Room to be her personal highlight. She would insist that we go to the game room daily to play the Nintendo Wii with the other children. I think that this area of the House really helps the children take their minds off of everything they are going through. Angelina has also specifically requested that I add how much she enjoyed the daily activities put on by the staff and outside volunteers. These activities such as arts and crafts and cookouts were a great way to meet the other families in the house and have a social atmosphere for the children. Our experience there is one that we will never forget. Angelina and I will always have fond memories of RMH and its staff.

Liz Burgos (Angelina’s mother)

125 days ago 0