During their stay at RMHC, Claud was susceptible to infections. A random bug would put him in the hospital for a week. Once, Juanita said, she took him outside to play. “I just wanted him to be a little boy, but he scraped his toe on the concrete—it was no bigger than a papercut—and that turned necrotic.”
Despite being on five or six antibiotics, he lost his toe. This led to two months in the hospital and daily trips by ambulance to Springhill Memorial Hospital for hyperbaric chamber treatments.
“We really leaned on everybody here,” Juanita said. “My mother would do the laundry and get our meals because Claud couldn’t be around other people. Things would have been so much harder had we not been here. We didn’t want for anything.”
It was more than just the accommodations that helped the Nordan family.
“This was home for a long time, and it’s kind of hard to leave home,” Juanita said. “Claud feels safe here, and I know we can always come visit.”
In May of this year, Claud rang the bell signaling the end of chemotherapy treatments. “He’s only five, but he understood no more chemo. He had to have chemo longer than most because of his renal issues, but his doctors were in overdrive for him.”
Juanita is in her second semester of nursing school at Coastal Alabama Community College, enhancing her knowledge, she said, because she knows Claud may have a lifetime of struggles and she wants to be able to help him.
For his part, Claud was like any other rambunctious 5-year-old boy on their recent visit to the House, choosing toys from the toy closet, scampering up the slide on the playground, or chasing Joe, the resident dog. Always in shouting distance of his beloved “Papa Carl” and always with a smile on his face.
Nellie eventually went home on oxygen, but Hugo’s health problems would persist and get worse, then better, then worse again.
The Nobles and others like them are frequent guests at Ronald McDonald Houses. And that’s where donors like you, who give so generously to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile, are making a difference in the lives of many.
Savannah and Chris had their first encounter with a Ronald McDonald House in Winston-Salem, where Savannah and Nellie stayed while Hugo was in the hospital. Chris and Vera stayed home where Chris could work from home and care for the almost two-year-old. Hugo would be in and out of the hospital, but during the last week in October 2022, the Nobles moved to Loxley, Alabama. A week later he was admitted to USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital – at risk for seizures.
When Hugo was re-admitted in January of this year, the Nobles moved into RMHC Mobile.
That’s why we need your help today, so families like the Nobles have a comfortable place to stay while their children are receiving life-saving medical care.
“It saved us to have the hospital so close to the Ronald McDonald House. I would stay with Hugo overnight, and Chris would stay at the House with the girls. Then we’d swap, and Chris was able to work while sitting with Hugo. Before we swapped places for the day, we’d sit down and have breakfast together at the House. That alone meant so much to us.” – Savannah
Since that initial stay at RMHC Mobile, the Nobles have returned several times, sometimes for a few days, other times for weeks.
Savannah and Chris both talk about “the little things” at RMHC Mobile and at the Ronald McDonald House Family Rooms located inside the hospital that make their family’s life a little bit easier. They talk about the hot meals in the evening, being able to sleep in a bed that isn’t a hospital bed and having a playroom and playground for the girls.
Your year-end gift makes these “little things” possible so families can focus on the big things, like their child’s recovery.
RMHC Mobile is so much more than a collection of rooms. We offer our families comfortable guestrooms with private bath, access to laundry rooms, refrigerators and pantries in a fully stocked House kitchen, daily prepared meals, and a support system of staff, volunteers, and other families who share their same hopes and fears.
That’s why we need your help today! Your gift can help a family stay with their hospitalized child and be steps away from a home-away-from-home.
Without RMHC Mobile, families would be forced to sleep in the hospital waiting rooms, in their cars, or in hotel rooms that would tax their already drained financial resources.
There are costs associated with providing a home for up to 38 families a night. Fortunately, we don’t have to pass those costs on to our families because of the generosity of people like you.
The Nobles are one of many, many families whose lives are put on hold while a sick child receives medical care. Their positive spirit and their gratitude for Ronald McDonald House Charities are incredibly uplifting and genuine. It is nothing short of a privilege to provide a home for them.
Thank you for your loving support and generosity.
