Jody Nunn's Rottnest Channel Swim Solo Crossing
Meet my four sources of inspiration
Meet Zander
Zander is 9 year Aboriginal boy who lives in a small town called Kojonup. He loves to play sport, especially football.
Zander was born 9 weeks prematurely causing his lungs to be under developed. When he was born he was placed on a ventilator and then a breathing mask to help his little lungs grow. From that moment on, Zander has had trouble breathing.
Zander's mum, Kirstie, says his favourite thing to do is join in our in-house education program, Work of Heart, with the amazing teacher Miss Helen. Kirstie told us "he gets very mad at me when I don't get his appointments finished on time so he can't get back to the House in time for school."
Now that Zander is in school we support him through the Ronald McDonald House Learning Program, providing him with one-on-one tuition so he doesn't fall behind in school. Living in a small town like Kojonup, he is tutored over Skype!
Zander's family stayed with us for 72 nights, over 19 stays.
Meet Tahlea
When Tahlea was only 6 months old she was flown from Geraldton to Perth after contracting meningococcal septicaemia w strain. She was taken immediately to ICU where she was placed in a coma to keep her little body alive.
Tahlea survived this critical phase of her illness, however due to its severity Tahlea needed her fingers and toes amputated, skin grafts on all four limbs and also suffered damage to her brain which causes her to have seizures. Tahlea’s parents were told by the doctors it would be a very long road to recovery and to date, Tahlea has had 11 surgeries and nearly 100 sedations.
Right from the get go, Ronald McDonald House was there to support Tahlea and her family. Her mother, Chelsea, has said that “without Ronald McDonald House and the facilities offered, the family would have been under unimaginable stress.
Over the past 4 months, we’ve come to look at Ronald McDonald house as our home. To us, it’s much more than a roof over our heads. Each and every day when we walk through the doors of Ronald McDonald House, after a long day at the hospital, we’re greeted by volunteers and staff members who are eager to help our family in any way, shape or form.”
The house is surrounded by happy, positive vibes and every night our bellies are full from a beautiful home cooked meal. My other children are able to attend Miss Helen's Learning Centre programs, where they continue their schooling whilst away from home. The services that are provided to families like mine are appreciated beyond words.”
Tahlea's family have stayed with us for 329 nights, and continue to stay with us on a frequent basis.
Meet Molly
“In August 2018 our four year old daughter Molly, was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Condition known as Coarctation of the Aorta, along with a leak in her valve. Molly’s aorta was 3mm instead of 10mm which required corrective surgery. The operation involved her aorta being clamped either side of the narrowing, cut, then re-joined. This was complicated due to her heart developing blood vessels around the aorta to compensate for it not working.
We had to travel 2400km from Broome to Perth for the operation. Molly’s wonderful Paediatric Cardiology Team at Perth Children’s Hospital, not only performed the surgery, but also assisted by arranging our flight to Perth. Once in Perth, our Broome family of four were relocated to Ronald McDonald House where we took up residence.
The week before Molly’s operation were the scariest moments for all of us. We had to reassure Molly that everything was going to be a breeze, whilst being scared and nervous ourselves.
The staff at Ronald McDonald House were there to support us all as a family from fun activities for Molly to pre-op counselling. They provided us with free accommodation and meals, prepared by awesome volunteers. We truly would have been lost without their support.
Molly’s operation for the aorta narrowing has been successful however it hasn’t stopped the valve from leaking, in fact it has gotten slightly worse meaning Molly has to be monitored every 6 months.”
- Molly’s parents, Victoria & Patrick.
Molly's family stayed with us for 18 nights, and now needs to be monitored every 6 months.
Meet Jacob 'Rocky'
“In the early hours of Sunday 13 of December, at 34 weeks + 6 days my wife Crystal was flown by Royal Flying Doctor to Perth. After a series of tests doctors decided it was necessary for our baby to be delivered via emergency caesarean.
.After his birth doctors started to worry something was wrong and little Jacob was immediately transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital's intensive care unit. Once there, they made the shocking discovery that our little man had been born with Leukaemia. They didn't expect Jacob to make it through his first night, he had a white blood cell count of 200,000 as well as multiple organ failure. All of this was happening while poor Crystal was still at Fiona Stanley and separated from her newborn son.From day 1 our little boy has had to endure chemotherapy, dialysis, countless blood transfusion's, as well as being hooked up to heaps of machines to keep his organs functioning.
The doctors and staff here at PMH have been absolutely amazing, and by some sort of miracle our little guy is still here, everyday he is with us is a blessing!!As you can see our little baby has a huge fight on his hands and the news of his illness has shocked us beyond belief. This is something you never expect is going to happen to you!!” Some things in life are hard and some things in life break your heart.
When they said my Jacob is very sick needs emergency transfer to PMH because he has blood cancer was very sad we cried. When he got there later that night they said he is critically ill he might not make it was heartrenching lots and lots of tears. But the hardest and most upsetting thing was to try to explain to my kids Jasper (8) and Ashley (5) that baby they have been watching grow in their mum's tummy and the baby that they are so excited to see........Is very sick and might die.......
I'm a honest person I wanted to sugar coat it for them but had to be true...was by far the hardest most heart renching thing I have ever had to do."
- From Jacob's parents
Jacob's family have stayed with us for over 217 nights and continue to stay with us on a monthly basis.
