Family Prepares for Hospital Christmas Amid Daughter’s Ongoing Medical Care

While many individuals gather to celebrate Christmas, for parents Brooke and Corey, the holiday signifies another day their daughter will spend in the hospital. Two-year-old Ivy-Mae has required frequent medical attention since her birth, leading the couple to forgo home decorations. Instead, they plan to embrace the festive spirit at Ronald McDonald House, situated at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. “We haven’t decorated our house for Christmas,” stated 23-year-old mother Brooke Bonnett. “We just feel like, if Ivy’s going to be in hospital, what’s the point?” Ivy was born with Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheo-oesophageal fistula, uncommon conditions impacting the food pipe and airway. During Ivy’s care, her parents will reside at Ronald McDonald House, a facility specifically designed to keep families in close proximity. This arrangement is not new to them, as they have previously spent birthdays and Easter there. This routine began when Ivy was separated from her mother at only five hours old to prepare for surgery. “I was told that her survival rate was no higher than 20%,” Brooke recounted. “Personally, I didn’t think I would come home with my baby girl.” Fortunately, the operation was successful, yet it marked merely the beginning of Ivy’s extensive medical journey. Ronald McDonald House has since become a haven for the family, a role it plays for numerous others. Despite having a modest hotel-style bedroom, Brooke struggles to contain her emotions when reflecting on its profound influence. “This room that we’re sat in means more to me than anything,” she expressed. “It was the first ever room we stayed in. We hold our dearest memories with our children here.” It was the initial location she entered after Ivy was discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, and she has utilized similar accommodations intermittently since their first stay in 2022. The facility has made regular hospital visits more manageable. “To others around the world, they’re all celebrating Christmas and opening their presents but Ivy will still need her treatment,” she noted. “But we can come here and she can open her presents just like a normal child and the whole house will be decorated top to bottom.” The house also enables Brooke’s family to remain united, which is crucial for their youngest child, Willow. “I’m still able to see my other child because she can stay here with dad and I get to see her as well as being there for Ivy,” Brooke added. “Without the house, I wouldn’t see my baby.” Additional advantages include parents receiving care themselves, as Brooke highlighted: “We’re so busy looking after our children sometimes we forget to brush our teeth, we forget to shower.” The Cardiff house has been offering support to children and their families for seven years. It stands as the sole facility of its kind in Wales, though many exist globally, having been established 50 years ago by a doctor, a baseball player, and a McDonald’s franchise owner in Philadelphia, USA. Emily Mitchell, the house manager in Cardiff, maintains a storage cupboard filled with daily necessities, arts and crafts supplies, and gifts prepared for Christmas. “We understand that families aren’t thinking about any of these things,” she explained. “So, we try and do anything we can to give them a breather. On Valentine’s Day, both parents will get a gift from us. We do Mother’s and Father’s Day and birthdays for parents and siblings.” She mentioned that while Wales might appear to be a small nation, the Cardiff facility serves as the primary children’s hospital for the entire country, with some families traveling up to three hours for treatment. Danielle James, a staff member, began working as a house assistant after her daughter Harlow awaited open heart surgery in 2022. “I completely fell in love with the building when I was here,” she remarked. “It was a safe place. It was always clean, welcoming and the staff were amazing.” Danielle resides in Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taf, with her partner Cai, a 40-minute drive from the hospital. “I didn’t want him to leave and then they were like ‘oh no, he can stay across the road’,” she recalled. “It was like I could breathe again, we were going to be fine. It was a massive, massive weight.” Following her personal experience, Danielle stated: “I just remember saying ‘I don’t care what I’m doing there, I just need to work there’.” While recently assisting families with gifts and attention, Danielle further commented: “It’s the little things you don’t think about when you’ve got a child in hospital.” For Brooke, the house will remain a consistent element of her family’s life as Ivy continues to undergo medical treatment. “It’s not just four walls,” she affirmed. “It’s filled with a lot of love and memories for not just me, probably for many families that have stayed.”