Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Son’s stressful birth inspires house to house
Real estate agent Michael Rea’s son is the inspiration behind him taking on the Ronald McDonald House to House challenge.
Rea, who works for Ray White, has committed to running, swimming and cycling 210km to raise money for the charity over the month of March and a goal to raise $1197.
A week in, Rea has already reached his goal and is within the top 10 individual fundraisers in New Zealand.
For a cause that is close to his heart, he said the goal now was to raise as much as he can.
In 2021, his wife Jess went into premature labour at 32 weeks. The family was rushed to hospital, where they were told their baby boy, Hugo, was so small they needed to be transferred to Wellington Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Thankfully, via LifeFlight they were there the next day.
The family ended up staying in the capital for around two weeks and Rea said it was a massive weight off their shoulders to have a place to stay opposite the hospital.
“It’s [Ronald McDonald House] just there and organised for you.”
He said he can only imagine how stressful it would’ve been if he had had to organise accommodation himself, especially with how much it now costs to stay at hotels.
His mother-in-law and daughter were also able to stay with him during that time.
On average, families travel 210km from their homes to a Ronald McDonald House for treatment and the House to House challenge aims to raise funds for the charity so they can keep caring for families during their most vulnerable times.
Rea said it was disappointing that initiatives like Ronald McDonald House and
LifeFlight weren’t government funded: “It’s disappointing that we have to fundraise, but that’s the reality of what we are living in and that’s why I’m committing to do it, is to help the next family that needs it.”
It will be Rea’s first time completing the House to House challenge and he said it breaks down to 7km each day.
He’ll keep every day interesting, swapping
between running and biking and at the end of the month he’ll finish his 210km with a tramp to Angelus Hut with his family.
Rea said he was committed to pushing himself throughout the challenge.
Part of the challenge itself will be finding time to get the 7km in every day as he juggles two young kids and a busy career.
“I’ve already had a huge amount of support,
you know, sponsors and things; but a lot of of really really nice messages from people who have also been through Ronald McDonald House.”
The Ray White team in Blenheim will also be challenging themselves to the House to House challenge and will complete the 210km between them.
Updates on Rea’s progress can be found on his sponsorship page.