Dig in to help kids

YOU would be hard-pressed to find anybody whose life has not been touched in some way by the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Most of us have either spent time in the hospital’s care as a youngster, or had family or friends treated at the beloved Parkville site.

At the very least, all of us have sat in front of the TV, donated to tin rattlers at intersections or even called in to speak to a celebrity on Good Friday as part of the hospital’s now-famous major annual fundraiser.

While religious scholars may wince, it is a fact that Good Friday in Victoria has become synonymous with the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal.

The appeal, which is remarkably in its 88th year, provides a chance to tell the amazing stories of courage and hope that take place within the hospital walls every day, to showcase the expertise of the medical staff who work there and to give the public the opportunity to give back and say thanks.

And while the hospital may be based in Melbourne, the facility and its people are an asset to the entire state. Just ask the Baran family of Bell Park, whose children Daniel and Lucy have been the patients of about 20 surgeries performed at the hospital.

Or Nicholas Walpole, of Leopold, whose life with a rare neurological disease was forever changed by the hospital a decade ago and who has gone on to live a happy, active life as an 18-year-old.

Or our own little local Superman Rory Berry, a regular oncology patient at the hospital who is undergoing chemotherapy for a rare network of tumours.

Or even little Ollie Wedding, of Curlewis — the face of this year’s appeal — whose leg was amputated when he was 18 months old but with the support of the hospital is living a full and happy life.

These faces and stories are a tiny sample of the work the hospital performs every day — and are reason enough for all of us to take the time and few extra dollars today to say thank you.