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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Global TV anchor Steve Darling hangs first Star for Care at Royal Columbian Hospital to give thanks for exceptional care and help raise $1.6 million
New Westminster, B.C., Thursday, December 11, 2008 – Global BC’s Morning News anchor
Steve Darling and his wife Jen, along with Melinda Fabbro from Burnaby, kicked off Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) Foundation’s Stars for Care campaign this week by hanging the first ornaments on the hospital’s holiday tree display in honour of their daughters. The campaign will help raise $1.6 million for critically needed equipment at RCH.
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| Global TV anchor Steve Darling and his wife Jen hang a Star for Care for their daughter Hayley on Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s holiday tree display. |
Steve and Jen hung their Star for Care on the giant 12-foot holiday tree in the Health Care Centre lobby to celebrate their daughter Hayley’s first Christmas and thank RCH staff who cared for her as a newborn at RCH last April.
Hayley Darling was born on April 10, 2008 at RCH. Born five weeks premature and unable to exhale due to her underdeveloped lungs, she was immediately placed on a ventilator to help her breathe. Hayley then spent the next 21 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at RCH where she was treated for various complications related to her prematurity.
It was a shocking welcome to parenthood for Jen and Steve, but with support from the NICU staff at RCH, their comfort level rapidly increased. “We developed a real bond with the staff,” says Steve. “They’re there to celebrate the little victories with you, and you just trust them because they feel like part of your family.”
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| Melinda Fabbro hangs a Star for Care on RCH Foundation’s holiday tree display for her daughter Madelin in honour of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit staff at Royal Columbian Hospital. |
Melinda Fabbro helped her one-year-old daughter Madelin hang a Star for Care on the holiday tree display to thank the NICU staff who treated Madelin for breathing problems she experienced at birth in November 2007.
Surrounded by frail and seriously ill newborns in the NICU made Melinda and her husband Michael realize how fortunate they were to have a baby who was able to recover quickly under the care and expertise of the NICU team at RCH. “If we didn’t have the type of health care we have, [Madelin] wouldn’t have made it,” Melinda says. Inspired by the care her daughter received, Melinda has personally raised more than $4,400 in less than two months to help fund a crib for the RCH NICU, and is continuing to fundraise through her blog, www.the1sttogiveback.blogspot.com until December 31, 2008.
RCH Foundation’s holiday campaign, Stars for Care, will help raise $1.6 million this year for new equipment that is needed throughout the hospital, including from a neonatal ventilator in the NICU to an intubating scope for the Trauma Operating Room. Donors who give a Star for Care are invited to personalize a special holiday ornament, which will help to decorate the holiday trees located throughout the hospital.
“Giving a Star for Care is a truly meaningful alternative to traditional gift giving during the holiday season,” says Adrienne Bakker, RCH Foundation president and CEO. “That’s because when you give, you’re giving the gift of life and good health to thousands of people—your friends and family, and everyone from Burnaby to Boston Bar who depends on RCH.”
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About Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH)
RCH is one of 12 hospitals under the umbrella of the Fraser Health Authority. It is a regional referral hospital for trauma, critical care, cardiac, maternity, newborn intensive care and neurosciences for
1.5 million people from Burnaby to Boston Bar. RCH is also a UBC teaching hospital with a newly expanded Clinical Academic Campus in addition to being a community hospital serving New Westminster residents.
About Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation
Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation is an independent charitable organization that raises millions of dollars every year to build on government support to fund equipment needs, priority projects, education and research at RCH. For more information about Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, please visit rchfoundation.com
For more information, please contact:
Shannon Henderson
Communications Specialist
(604) 520-4438
shannon.henderson@fraserhealth.ca
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