Koji kid feels at home in his safe space

Zander has found a second home in Ronald McDonald House.

Born prematurely and diagnosed with immature lung disease, happy-go-lucky Zander, 11, endured chronic bronchiolitis for years, before being diagnosed with severe asthma.
“His oxygen levels drop at times and we’ve had multiple admissions to hospital,” says his mum Kirstie.

From their home in the remote town of Kojonup, Western Australia, it takes three hours for Kirstie to drive Zander to hospital in Perth for his appointments. Yet the trip has now become more enjoyable, thanks to their second home – and compassionate people - they’ve discovered in Ronald McDonald House.

CBH has been a long term support of the house, enabling families like Zanders, when exhausted and anxious arrive at the House, compassionate staff and volunteers are always there, ready to greet them with a warm hug, a kind word and a cuppa. The House is also a place where they find the companionship of other families navigating a similar journey.

To date Zander has spent 81 nights across 28 separate stays since 2009 at the RMH. 

“I’m a single parent to three boys, and I have days where it feels too hard,” says Kirstie.

“As soon as you arrive, you feel like part of the family. Staff do everything to make you feel as comfortable and happy as possible. They truly are amazing.”

Children like Zander, who has had 19 hospital visits in his short life, often miss out on schooling while in treatment. Zander is one of thousands of children who benefit from one-on-one tutoring, along with speech and occupational therapy, provided through the Ronald McDonald Learning Program. “He loves the Learning Program and he adores his teacher,” says Kirstie.

Since 2012 CBH has been supporting RMH Perth and to date has donated over $284,000 toward the house and its programs. We are ongoing sponsors of room number three hundred and five, which assist the RMH to continue to maintain the room to a high standard and meet the needs of the regional families spending time away from home. 

The new house can accommodate 47 families, this will also include two specifically designed isolation units. 

The CBH Group also supports the RMH through the Harvest Mass Management Scheme supporting the RMH Learning Program, which assists seriously ill children and their siblings to continue their education while away from school. The new house will have a specifically designed learning room for the program, the only RMH house in the world to have their very own Learning Room!

Thank you to Ronald McDonald House, Perth and Zander’s family for sharing their story.