BOISE, Idaho — The Ronald McDonald House is a home away from home for parents dealing with critically sick children.
- The House provides room, board and comprehensive care and attention while families work through difficult medical decisions.
- The non-profit has space for 47 families at a time.
- They always have need for donations and volunteers. If you'd like to help, go to rmhcidaho.org
(Below is the broadcast transcript of the story)
The holidays can be unbearable for someone dealing with a seriously sick child. But there’s a place in Boise that takes special care of parents and sick kids, as long as they need it. It’s the Ronald McDonald House and it’s a saving grace for those whose lives have been upended, sometimes for months, and even years, at a time.
Alexandria and Jacob Newby never expected the curve ball they got 18 months ago.
“You go from 'This is awesome we’re going to have our first kid, it’s going to be great, we’ve got our house, we’re doing great,' to your whole world gets turned upside down pretty fast,” said Jacob.
Their newborn boy Axel was premature. Ten days later, they had a rough decision to make — fight or pull the plug.
“We came to the decision that it’s his fight and we’re going to give him the chance to fight,” said Jacob.
And so far, the little guy has beaten the odds. Axel went from 15 ounces to 22 pounds, but he’s never gone home and now faces a new challenge from liver cancer.
But the fight has been softened somewhat by the Ronald McDonald House that’s been a home away from home all this time, even though the real home is just in Caldwell.
“It doesn’t seem like we live that far but a 35-minute drive when your kiddo is having a cardiac arrest is major. So we can get up and get there in five minutes,” said Alex.
“You know your kids in the hospital and you’re not even thinking of taking care of yourself and then you realized 'oh, I probably should eat today,'” adds Jacob.
Ronald McDonald provides room and board and a caring staff that stands in your corner in the fight of your life.
“It’s the people that come in and they make dinner, make food, the house is cleaned up, and things that you don’t have to worry about when your mind is racing and you don’t know what’s going on and what the next day holds to walk in and there’s someone saying there’s warm food in the kitchen,” said Jacob.
It’s a simple truth, but the Newbys know more than anyone that tomorrow is not guaranteed.
Still, with the help of the Ronald McDonald House, hope survives for a better tomorrow.
“Just being from this community and seeing how people come together and donate and volunteer, especially during the holidays, it’s huge,” said Alex.
