Why am I running for the TRMH, here is why!

My Story

In 1986 I was like any other 6 year old girl. I loved Barbies, dancing around the house, and would beg my mom for play dates with other kids in the neighborhood. The first time my mom let me spend the night at a new friend’s house, I was incredibly excited. It was the first time I was allowed to spend the night at someone’s house that wasn’t a family member.
I went over to their house fairly early and somewhere in the first hour of me being over there I was offered some avocado to eat. Being the polite kid that I was I accepted the offer, although I was not a huge fan of avocado. A few minutes later I asked for something to drink. The girl’s Stepdad offered me punch. I took the cup and swallowed just a little sip to taste the flavor of the punch. That one little sip would change the rest of my life.
The punch that I had taken a sip of turned out to be industrial dish soap that was 14% lye. My body automatically reacted to the poison invading my system. I was taken to 2 different hospitals before I finally ended up at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. My stay there lasted three long months. During my stay at L.A. Children’s I had a gastrostomy tube put in my stomach, so I could “eat”. For a good majority of my stay I had a suction tube in my mouth so that I wouldn’t swallow any saliva and irritate my esophagus. At 6 years old, I couldn’t eat, had doctors poking and prodding me constantly, and was never more thankful to have my family at my side.
My mom was a single parent at this time and The Ronald McDonald House made it feasible for her to be with me during my stay at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. At this time the house charged the occupants $5.00 a day, but would not turn away those that could not pay. The only trick was that there actually had to be a vacancy. After a week there was finally a vacancy and my mother was able to stay at The Ronald McDonald House for the rest of the time that I was at L.A. Children’s. When other family members would come to visit they would also have a place to stay at RMH.
As I get further and further into my training for the half marathon, I realize that I probably wouldn’t have made such a quick recovery if I hadn’t have had my family by my side. Many children that spend months, or even years in hospitals are not able to have their families with them. RMH makes it possible for children to have their families close in a time where they need them the most.