Our second home
Living in a remote location 3000km from the hospital where their son requires ongoing care, this family would be lost without Ronald Mcdonald House.
When Tegan and Daniel Parker relocated to the remote town of Kununurra in far North Western WA for Daniel’s work, little did they know circumstances would soon see them regularly separated by a distance of 3000 kilometres.
Pregnant when she and Daniel made the move to Kununurra, Tegan was unaware that her pregnancy was out of the ordinary, but at son Cobber’s birth they discovered he had the debilitating joint disorder arthrogryposis.
“When Cobber was born he had to be resuscitated quite a few times,” says Tegan. “He was moved to the neo-natal ward at Princess Margaret hospital in Perth, and after he was discharged we’ve been living on and off at Ronald Mcdonald House ever since.”
Also affected by an undiagnosed syndrome, three-year-old Cobber’s medical requirements are exhaustive.
“He’s had constant surgeries and needs a range of intensive therapies, everything from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, neurology, cardiology, audiology, ear nose and throat and orthopaedic surgeons, dietitians, a feeding clinic to learn to eat… it will be lifelong for Cobber, he will always need treatment,” explains Tegan.
It’s not surprising then, that Tegan, Cobber and the Parkers’ nine-monthold son Munro (who was born in Perth in between Cobber’s therapy and hospital appointments), consider Ronald Mcdonald House to be their ‘second home’.
“We’ve had birthdays there, Christmas Day, it’s totally our normal when we’re not at home,” says Tegan, adding that Cobber is a fan of many of the House’s initiatives.
“Cobber is obsessed with Book Buddies, where a volunteer comes in and reads the kids books before dinner time, it’s something he really looks forward to,” she says. “Both boys also love to play in the playroom and there are toys for all ages in there.”
Tegan says another favourite initiative is ‘Lovin’ in the oven’ when volunteers come to the House to cook a special meal and Cobber delights in thanking them.
“It’s beautiful to know I never need to come back and make dinner for the boys, I can just focus 100 per cent on what we’re there for, which is Cobber’s medical care,” she says. “They just take so much stress out of everyday living.” Meanwhile, Cobber’s favourite Saturday movie sessions with the volunteers give Tegan important one-on-one time with Munro.
So far away from her husband and with no family in Western Australia at all, Tegan says the volunteers have taken on that supportive role.
“The regular volunteers have become like family. Some have taken on a grandparent kind of role, it’s really sweet. They get to watch Cobber and Munro grow up and it’s so nice just to have that continuity through their lives and ours. I can’t thank Ronald Mcdonald House enough. Without them I would not have a happy, healthy child and family.”