Sammie returns home

ROBERT KITCHIN

GIVEN ALL-CLEAR: Sammie Whittaker with his great grandfather Robin Cole before Christmas last year.

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With her son now home and well, Rebecca Fothergill is hoping to repay those who have helped her family cope with the past year.

The mother of Sammie Whittaker is helping organise a charity run raising funds for Ronald McDonald House.

The facility in Auckland provides accommodation to families with children in Starship hospital and was home, on and off, to Mrs Fothergill since April last year.

"Without the house we wouldn't have been able to survive," she said. "It's a nice warm place with friendly people. The support there is incredible, both from other families and the staff."

After hundreds of needles, weeks of chemotherapy, countless feeding tubes, intravenous lines, and a bone marrow transplant, Sammie was recently given the all-clear to leave hospital.

The Palmerston North boy suffered from a rare immune disease, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, and was given only a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Mrs Fothergill said Sammie came home from hospital on Tuesday last week.

"We're so glad to be home," she said. "Everything is looking really good, he's just doing exceptionally well."

To support the work of Ronald McDonald House, a team of runners from the group Many Miles for Mary will run from Wellington to the House in Auckland during eight days in July and August with the goal of $20,000.

Their first leg on July 31 is about 120km from Wellington. They will drive from that spot to Palmerston North where they will stay the night in rooms donated by the Accommodation Gateway Motel before returning in the morning to continue from where they finished the night before. The goal the following day is for the team to stay in Waiouru.

While accommodation was organised, the runners needed food during their stay, which was where Mrs Fothergill hoped Palmerston North people would chip in. "We're looking for people who are able to feed them," she said.

Many Miles for Mary was launched in 2009 by James Milne in memory of his grandmother who died in 1999 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's.

That year, Mr Milne ran 360km with friends, from Cairns to Townsville in three days to raise awareness and funds for the Alzheimer's Foundation.

Last year the team ran from Auckland to Wellington, covering almost 800km in six days and raising more than $10,000 for New Zealand charities.

"People have been so supportive," Mrs Fothergill said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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