Our Warrior, Tommy

In celebration of McHappy, May 4th, Sammy Hines says she wants to thank the Ronald McDonald House its part in making her son, Tommy Hoeving, a warrior. The miracle boy was born in October of 2014, only 4.5 months, the little guy weighed just 1 lb 1 ounce.

“The Ronald McDonald House was a home to us for 4.5 months starting October 2014 when I had an emergency c-section when I was 24weeks pregnant, I had my 1lb 11oz little miracle boy Thomas Hoeving,” Sammy says the house made it possible for her family to stay close to Tommy while he fought for his life. “During our stay we had heart surgery, laser eye surgery, 2 exploratory Laparotomies(intestines exposed and inspected) ending in Ileostomy, and chronic lung disease.”

Sammy stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for nearly five months. During that time she was comforted by other families going through similar situations; as well as knowing she could visit her son daily and not go broke just being a mom. The Ronald McDonald House recovers only $12 a day from families who use the facility. Families are able to have their own room for privacy. There is shared common areas, like the living room, kitchen, sitting room, playground, toy room, and arcade. The Ronald McDonald House even introduced a shuttle service to and from the hospital recently.

Sammy says her son is continuing to fight, like a warrior. “We were finally discharged March 2015 and sent home on oxygen as well as with his Ileostomy. He gained and grew until May 2015 when we went back to UofA in Edmonton and he was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease. They reversed his Ileostomy and removed over 50% of his large intestine.” Tommy is now 1.5 years old and 25 pounds “and going strong,” says mom Sammy. There are still medical concerns, but the boy is growing stronger each day, “[he] still has CLD and supposed to be on oxygen, but that is not stopping him!”

Sammy said everything happened so fast when Tommy was born, but luckily the house was there to help, “it all happened so fast. Within 1 week we where lucky enough to get into the Ronald McDonald House. They where there waiting for us with open arms while we where still trying to absorb what had happened.”

Little Tommy’s cousin, Kale Hoeving, is raising money for the Ronald McDonald Run in his honour. If you would like to help Kale, you can donate online https://rmhcna.org/donate/?donate=personal

Stop by a local McDonald’s today to support McHappy Day. The Ronald McDonald Run is Saturday in Cold lake, for more information visit Ronald McDonald House Charities online.