Our Families
Ronald McDonald House provides comfort, strength and stability for families with children in medical crisis. The House is a shelter for families undergoing the worst emotional trauma possible – their child, sister or brother is gravely ill. These are a few of their stories:
Our Little Dancer
Eight hours after my daughter Kalissa was born, she stopped breathing. She was rushed to Children’s Hospital in Buffalo and at only one-day old Kalissa had brain surgery to remove a clot along with her right temporal lobe. My husband and I were in shock, we couldn’t wrap our minds around what was happening to our little baby. We were …
When I Stayed at the Ronald McDonald House…Brett’s Story
When I was 10, I was diagnosed with MS. My diagnosis really scared me and my family. I was upset, angry and very confused. My doctor’s appointments were in Buffalo, which brought us to the Buffalo Ronald McDonald House. Staying at the House felt like being home and being part of a large warm family. The staff and volunteers were …
When I Stayed at the Ronald McDonald House…Jana’s Story
I stayed at the Ronald McDonald House when I was 3 years old. My mommy and daddy say I was really sick and we stayed at the house so I could be close to my doctors. (Jana was diagnosed and treated for Leukemia – her treatment program lasted 3½ years.) I really don’t remember being sick, but I remember the …
Our Beautiful Pound of Butter
When your child weighs about the same as a pound of butter, there are so many unknowns, it’s more than just scary, it is terrifying. On December 22nd, my daughter Kazlyn was born at 24-weeks. She weighed 1 lb. 1 oz. Expecting my first child was very exciting. It was during one of my regular appointments that my doctor discovered …
Our Gift
At 60-years old you don’t really think about becoming a father, but life has a way of keeping you on your toes and giving you unexpected gifts. My grandson Marley came into our lives 3 years ago when he was 1 ½ years old. He had a tough life right from the start. An abandoned child from a dysfunctional and …
Emily the Grape
As some parents know and some parents can only imagine, having one child born prematurely is stressful and very scary. The long hospitalizations that many times are required and the complications that arise can be mind-numbing. Having to go through this once was hard enough for me and my husband Kyle, but when our second child was also premature, knowing …
Memories that will stay in our hearts forever
When I think back to the last year of DJ’s life, it’s not only the illness or the struggles of his parents, my cousin Don and his wife Rose, or DJ that I think about. But rather, it’s the times we were all able to be together, sharing normal family moments, living life and creating warm memories among the sadness. …
A Journey of Courage
When people think of MS, they do not think of a six year old girl. Kids having MS is quite rare, I was one of the first children in the US to be diagnosed with this disease. The first year it seemed I grew up in hospitals. At times spending weeks upon weeks in the hospital, being treated for just …
The McCartney Family
Megan McCartney’s son Max was born four months early and weighed only 1 pound, 7 ounces. The doctors told her that his condition was touch and go. Anything could happen, and he could die. During this turmoil, Megan was alone. She lived in Mayville, one and a half hours from Buffalo where her tiny baby was hospitalized. Her family couldn’t stay with her. But thanks to donors like you, the …
Our House through the eyes of 12-year old Lucas
“The worst part is not being able to fix it for him or take it from him”, says Maureen. I had just turned 7 when I started to feel sick. Initially the doctors thought it could be growing pains or Fifths Disease, but as I got sicker, my mom (Maureen) believed that something could be really wrong. Three months later, …
The Schnur Family
“Nobody realizes what people go through when they hear ‘Your baby may not make it,’” murmurs a tearful Hannah Schnur, “or when the doctors don’t know how things are going to go. It’s hard.” In early May 2015, what was supposed to be a joyous occasion instead marked the beginning of a journey that no parent should ever have to …
Meet Tucker
Tucker is only 4, and sometimes he gets worn down by his chemotherapy treatments for cancer. He throws up, is sluggish and just wants to lie down. But it’s different when his brother and sisters are around. “He has the willpower to get up and play,” said his mother, Susan Bish. “It makes him want to get up and do …
The McIntyre Family
Imagine being told your child has to be delivered early. Now imagine it is not just one child, but twins and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sisters Hospital, where your twins will be spending the first months of their lives in Buffalo and you live in Jamestown with your five other children. That was the reality Sara and …
The Frost Family
What could be more devastating than finding out that both of your children have a rare genetic disease called Fanconi anemia. For most of us, the pain and worry would be unimaginable. In 2013, for Sue and Jack Frost, it became their reality, their children Sydney and Jack Jr. are gravely ill. A crucial part of Sydney and Jack Jr’s …
The Cope Family
In late 2014 Tiffany and Kyle Cope received a long awaited call from their adoption agency. A baby boy’s biological mother chose Tiffany and Kyle Cope to be the adoptive parents of the child she was carrying. Tiffany and Kyle Cope were ecstatic, their family was growing and Kennedy, their three year old daughter was about to become a big …
Meet DJ
DJ Block, 7, would be living in the hospital full time if it weren’t for the Ronald McDonald House. Now each day when he finishes treatments for his brain tumor, “he has a place to go home to,” said his father, Donald. The Ronald McDonald House “is like a second home for him.” DJ will spend about a week every …