Ready to give

By Monique Ebrington
A LAUNCHING Place family has a special reason for getting behind the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal this year — and his name is Jarra Gannon.
Tarsha Stone said that her pregnancy with Jarra, her third child with husband Paul Gannon, was fairly normal up until her third trimester.
“I went into labour 12 weeks early,” Ms Stone said.
“Before he was even born the pediatrician and nurses from the Royal Children’s Hospital were there to help prepare me for what a 28-week-old baby would look like.”
While tiny Jarra was born at the Mercy Hosptial, it was through the ‘play it by ear’ first few weeks of his life that the family felt supported by Royal Children’s Hospital staff.
“It was sudden, very sudden. He was resuscitated straight away, he had collapsed lungs, he had bleeds on his brain, a hole in his heart and heaps of other complications and infection when he was born,” she said.
“He wasn’t good. He was 1.4 kilograms when he was born and we received one-on-one care in the first two weeks.”
While tiny Jarra was taken home from hospital two weeks before he was due, he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
Ms Stone said that in November it was discovered that Jarra had a double hernia.
“We had an appointment at the Royal Children’s Hospital to see the specialist there,” she said.
“He was really good to squeeze in the appointment and the surgery before Christmas.
“We were made to feel like he was the only baby there. They explained everything to us and explained things in a way that we would understand.
“They were great. They are there solely for the kids and they are really passionate about what they do.
“We had specialists trying to keep appointments to a minimum or making back-to-back appointments with specialists, knowing how far we had to travel to get there.”
Ms Stone said that Jarra was relatively healthy now and only had to go into the Royal Children’s Hospital for check-ups every three months.
While Ms Stone’s family are fairly new to the services provided by the Royal Children’s Hospital, Hillcrest CFA Captain Rick Shaw’s family also experienced the hospital’s services 17 years ago.
Mr Shaw said in 1993 his then 11-year-old son Matthew was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
“We were in and out of there for around three years for his major surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy,” Mr Shaw said.
“We had some really good experiences there and we had some very unfortunate experiences. You get to know some of the other kids and their families and they don’t always come out the other side, we were just very fortunate that Matt did.”
Mr Shaw said Hillcrest CFA members would be collecting money for the Good Friday Appeal from Wednesday 31 March to Friday 2 April in Woori Yallock and Launching Place.
“It’s a great cause, everybody knows somebody who has had a child, a niece or a nephew who has benefitted from the Children’s Hospital and it doesn’t take much to give a little bit back,” he said.
Volunteers for the collection are still appreciated and residents can get involved by phoning Mr Shaw on 0427 555 456.
For more information on the Good Friday Appeal or to donate online please visit goodfridayappeal.com.au.