Meet Laura, Brad, & Liam

My name is Laura Dodman. My family and I are from Niagara Falls, Ontario and we relied on the Ronald McDonald Family Room in McMaster Children's Hospital for nearly a week.

Hometown Niagara Falls

Days 5

Service Used Hamilton Family Room

Our Story

We brought Liam to the emergency room at McMaster Children's Hospital for an ongoing fever – we weren’t expecting to stay as long as we did. He was diagnosed with influenza A and his oxygen was very low due to his chronic asthma.

Our family is from Niagara Falls and we have another child at home who is 5 years old, so we immediately started thinking about how we would stay close to Liam while also caring for our other little one.

I had heard of RMHC but thought it was only available to families at the hospital for longer stays, not parents of patients that were staying a short while. When Liam was admitted, I started planning what to bring (snacks, food, water, clothes, etc.). That’s when the hospital staff told us about the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms operated by RMHC South Central Ontario (RMHC SCO). The Rooms had laundry, coffee, snacks, meals, and more, all available at zero cost!

The Family Rooms took a huge burden off of us – it would’ve otherwise been extremely challenging and costly to find food & necessities, as well as a place spend time with our other child, while not wanting to leave Liam’s side. Plus, the drive back to Niagara was about an hour, so it would’ve been a long and costly trip to go home for clothes or other items of comfort.

Having the necessities like food and laundry helped me keep my energy up so I could be the best I could for Liam. Having these necessities within the hospital at no cost was more helpful than words can describe. When we were discharged from the hospital, we donated back to RMHC SCO so we can help provide care to other families in the same position.