A Newtownards father has told how a Christmas dinner at Ronald McDonald House in Dublin gave his family a rare moment of comfort while their baby son was fighting for his life nearby.
Adam McKee (39), his wife Kelly (39) and their daughter Sophie (three) spent more than three months relying on the House while Harry, now almost one, received specialist care at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin.
For Adam, who runs a landscaping business, memories consist of long drives and intensive care, as well as anxious conversations with doctors.
But he also recalls the first evening the family arrived, when volunteers served Christmas dinner to parents and children whose plans for the festive season had been abruptly dismantled by illness.
“It was basically the first day we stayed there and I just wasn’t expecting that,” Adam said.
“It showed the non-stop generosity of people there.”
The McKees are joining thousands of other families this Saturday, 26 September, to celebrate McHappy Day – a special nationwide fundraising day being hosted by all 36 McDonald’s restaurants across Northern Ireland in aid of Ronald McDonald House UK and Ronald McDonald House Ireland.
Ronald McDonald House
On McHappy Day, £1 from every qualifying main meal ordered in a McDonald’s restaurant or via home delivery will be donated directly from McDonald’s to the charity, helping fund its unwavering support for families with seriously ill children across the UK and Ireland.
Harry was born with a left pulmonary artery sling and several serious heart and airway conditions, including severe pulmonary stenosis, a ventricular septal defect and severe tracheal stenosis.
His parents had no warning of what lay ahead.
A midwife noticed a heart murmur shortly after he was born, setting off a sequence of transfers from the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and then to CHI in Dublin.
The initial hope had been that Harry could gain enough weight for surgery but, in late November, he developed inflammation in his windpipe, deteriorated badly and had to spend six days in intensive care.
By early December, the family had been told that, if he did not improve, he might need to be sent to London for surgery, with a possible week in Sweden beforehand.
They were told they lived too far from Crumlin to return home.
On December 5 – Kelly’s birthday – a room became available at RMH, where the McKees would stay for 96 consecutive nights.
“When I got the news that we could stay there, I picked up Sophie and brought her down,” Adam said.
“I was overwhelmed. We had our own room, somewhere we could bring Sophie and spend time as a family.”
Kelly remained in the House for all 98 nights, forming friendships with other parents that have continued long since the family checked out on March 13.
“People were in similar situations,” Adam said.
“They understood what you were going through. It took such a lot of pressure off us.”
Adam said referred to the “small, practical gestures” that kept the strain from becoming overwhelming.
Volunteers came in six days a week to cook three-course meals.
Toiletries and essentials were there when families needed them.
On Valentine’s Day, Adam and Kelly were served a steak dinner – an unexpectedly romantic interjection during an otherwise frightening period.
“Despite the circumstances and the backdrop, it was special,” he said.
Those meals meant parents did not have to leave the hospital early to shop or cook.
“You always knew there was going to be at least one cooked meal for you, which meant you could spend a bit longer in the hospital with Harry,” Adam said.
The House also meant Kelly was not isolated on the days Adam had to return to Northern Ireland.
Staff were always nearby and the shared experience of other families gave her someone to talk to when she needed it most.
Harry is now thriving, though he’s not yet out of the woods.
He has tracheobronchomalacia and moderate to severe pulmonary regurgitation.
He’ll need further surgery to replace his pulmonary valve at some stage, while more work on his pulmonary artery may also be required.
Adam said Harry’s determination helped set the tone through the darkest moments.
“You can either sit in the corner and feel sorry for yourself or just get on with it,” he said.
“Harry wasn’t giving up. He was fighting everything, so we just had to get on with it.”
Adam and a friend recently ran a half marathon in support of Ronald McDonald House, raising more than £5,000 so far and hoping to double that total with future fundraising activities.
Without the House, he believes one parent would’ve had to remain in Northern Ireland full time, leaving the other to cope alone in Dublin.
Instead, it gave them somewhere to sleep, eat, talk and, crucially, remain together.
“They take the stress off you and make it easier to focus on what you need to focus on,” Adam said.
“They couldn’t do enough for you.”
He added: “For a family like us, facing the uncertainty of a seriously ill child, that support was the difference between just getting through each day and having the space to face it together.”
