Seven-year-old Jakoby was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. He has endured multiple hospital visits and surgeries since birth.
Jakoby’s mother, Zanna, explained they had detected Jakoby’s condition at her 21-week scan. When Jakoby was born, he had lip repair surgery. He has recently had his fifth surgery and 10th stay at Ronald McDonald House Townsville.
“Overall, we’ve got plenty more [operations] to go,” said Zanna. A major challenge for Jakoby’s family is the constant travel back and forth to the hospital.
“We come from a small town, Mt Garnet, a very rural area,” explained Zanna. For Jakoby and his family, staying at Ronald McDonald House makes a real difference.
“We feel comfortable being at Ronald McDonald House. He loves it. It makes him feel like he is at home. There are plenty of things to do, and it’s just a hop, skip and jump to the hospital,” Zanna explained.
“Especially overnight - taking it in turns while he’s up in hospital - I go up, then another family member will take over from me and look after him.”
As well as Ronald McDonald House, the family have visited the Ronald McDonald Family Room at Townsville University Hospital many times.
“I found the Family Room very, very relaxing because you’re not actually in the hospital. When you’re in the Family Room, you feel like you’re just back over at Ronald McDonald House,” Zanna said.
“Jakoby enjoys it. He has puzzles and drawings and wants to go in there all the time. The ladies in there are lovely. They made us feel more than welcome.”
For Zanna, the staff and volunteers helped her family settle into their home-away-from-home. “They’ve been amazing. Everything about the place. Very respectful. I was stressed that we wouldn’t get a place close to the hospital; they took all of that off my shoulders,” Zanna said.
“I wasn’t as stressed when I got here because I knew they would take care of us. I really appreciate that.”