Matilda's HomeRide
Donation protected
Hi Everyone!
I'm Tim and this is my wife Ellen - we've joined up with our good friends Mike and Natasja Cooper, Martin Sykora, Rob Jodies and Henkjan Ter Horst to embark on a charity bicycle ride. Our team name is Pudding Kracht.
Ellen - Matilda - Tim
This isn't just a normal charity cycle ride - this is the HomeRide! The HomeRide is a mammoth 500 km ride with a time limit of just 24 hours. The ride is the 25th June - 26th June 2016.
The HomeRide is to support the Ronald McDonald KinderFonds in the Netherlands. This is the charity organisation that funds and manages the Ronald McDonald houses at childrens hospitals. The Ronald McDonald houses are run by volunteers and paid for by charitable donations.
If, like Ellen and I, you've ever experienced the anguish of having a child in hospital you'll know that the last thing you want to do is leave the side of your child.
For us, our story began with the birth of our eldest daughter, Matilda. We knew from the 20 week scan that her heart was, well, unusual. For those interested, it was a condition known as congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA being it's more catchy abbreviation).
The prognosis for this condition was something of a dice roll. If we opted to do nothing there was a very likely chance the heart would gradually fail as her growth outpaced the amount the heart could compensate. The other option was to try and correct the condition surgically. After lengthy discussion with the doctors at the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (WKZ) we opted for the surgery. We wanted to give little Matilda the best possible chance at a normal life.
Over the next year, our daughter went from being a tiny baby into a beautiful, amazing, and completely unstoppable force of nature - I'm still finding books without covers and pages to this day such was her love of "tidying".
The surgery was performed when Matilda was 16 months old. I remember only too well spending that day playing sjoelen with Mike Cooper. The operation was around 8 hours long and went very well. Matilda recuperated fantastically and was home in time for the family christmas in 2014.
An example of Matildas "tidying"
January and February skipped by and things were looking very promising. Matilda was growing well and as active as she was before the operation. Then in March we noticed some odd things. Her breathing was rapid and shallow and her legs swollen.
We brought her back to the WKZ to find out what was happening. On the 13th of April 2015 she was due to have a ultrasound under general anesthetic from the inside of her throat. This is done to see the heart better without the ribs blocking the view.
This is when things went really bad. When the anesthetic was given Matilda's blood pressure dropped periliously low, the doctors performed resuscitation
for 50 minutes. Such was Matilda's determination and the skill of the doctors they were eventually able to stabilise her.
To our despair, the ordeal left Matilda severely brain damaged and on a ventilator in the Pelikaan intensive care unit. Over the next month a heavily pregnant Ellen and I fought, argued, cried, shouted, begged and pleaded with the doctors, nurses and surgeons of the WKZ to give little Matilda whatever chance we could.
On the 12th of May 2015 our beautiful little bear died in our arms.
Matilda loved pudding. Our nickname for her was the little pudding. Kracht is Dutch for power. Somehow Pudding Power sounds just right!
Our fantastic friend Lyndsey Graham created our team logo which captured the spirit of Matilda better than my words ever can.
The Ronald McDonald charity didn't help cure Matilda but it gave us the gift of time. It gave Ellen and I precious time to spend with our beautiful daughter Matilda. The gift of time is priceless, I cannot express how grateful I am to the work of the Ronald McDonald Kinderfonds for making this possible. I will never forget the kindness, compassion, generousity and respect that this charity embodies.
It's our aim that by doing the HomeRide we can raise enough money to help other families going through the trauma of having a child in hospital spend as much time as possible helping that little one battle whatever illness has befallen them.
Donations can be made either via the GoFundMe page or directly on the HomeRide website. The reason for having the GoFundMe page as well is that it accepts more international payment methods than the HomeRide site. This is aimed more specifically at Dutch donaters having only iDEAL and bank transfer available.
Any donation, regardless of size would be fantastically welcome. I can't offer any material thanks, but rest assured that we'll be thinking of you all during the ride and this will push us forwards!
Thank you for reading this. I hope it conveys how highly we regard the work of the Ronald McDonald Charity.
Very best regards
Tim and Ellen
I'm Tim and this is my wife Ellen - we've joined up with our good friends Mike and Natasja Cooper, Martin Sykora, Rob Jodies and Henkjan Ter Horst to embark on a charity bicycle ride. Our team name is Pudding Kracht.
Ellen - Matilda - TimThis isn't just a normal charity cycle ride - this is the HomeRide! The HomeRide is a mammoth 500 km ride with a time limit of just 24 hours. The ride is the 25th June - 26th June 2016.
The HomeRide is to support the Ronald McDonald KinderFonds in the Netherlands. This is the charity organisation that funds and manages the Ronald McDonald houses at childrens hospitals. The Ronald McDonald houses are run by volunteers and paid for by charitable donations.
If, like Ellen and I, you've ever experienced the anguish of having a child in hospital you'll know that the last thing you want to do is leave the side of your child.
For us, our story began with the birth of our eldest daughter, Matilda. We knew from the 20 week scan that her heart was, well, unusual. For those interested, it was a condition known as congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA being it's more catchy abbreviation).
The prognosis for this condition was something of a dice roll. If we opted to do nothing there was a very likely chance the heart would gradually fail as her growth outpaced the amount the heart could compensate. The other option was to try and correct the condition surgically. After lengthy discussion with the doctors at the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (WKZ) we opted for the surgery. We wanted to give little Matilda the best possible chance at a normal life.
Over the next year, our daughter went from being a tiny baby into a beautiful, amazing, and completely unstoppable force of nature - I'm still finding books without covers and pages to this day such was her love of "tidying".
The surgery was performed when Matilda was 16 months old. I remember only too well spending that day playing sjoelen with Mike Cooper. The operation was around 8 hours long and went very well. Matilda recuperated fantastically and was home in time for the family christmas in 2014.
An example of Matildas "tidying"
January and February skipped by and things were looking very promising. Matilda was growing well and as active as she was before the operation. Then in March we noticed some odd things. Her breathing was rapid and shallow and her legs swollen.
We brought her back to the WKZ to find out what was happening. On the 13th of April 2015 she was due to have a ultrasound under general anesthetic from the inside of her throat. This is done to see the heart better without the ribs blocking the view.
This is when things went really bad. When the anesthetic was given Matilda's blood pressure dropped periliously low, the doctors performed resuscitation
for 50 minutes. Such was Matilda's determination and the skill of the doctors they were eventually able to stabilise her.
To our despair, the ordeal left Matilda severely brain damaged and on a ventilator in the Pelikaan intensive care unit. Over the next month a heavily pregnant Ellen and I fought, argued, cried, shouted, begged and pleaded with the doctors, nurses and surgeons of the WKZ to give little Matilda whatever chance we could.
On the 12th of May 2015 our beautiful little bear died in our arms.
Matilda loved pudding. Our nickname for her was the little pudding. Kracht is Dutch for power. Somehow Pudding Power sounds just right!
Our fantastic friend Lyndsey Graham created our team logo which captured the spirit of Matilda better than my words ever can.
The Ronald McDonald charity didn't help cure Matilda but it gave us the gift of time. It gave Ellen and I precious time to spend with our beautiful daughter Matilda. The gift of time is priceless, I cannot express how grateful I am to the work of the Ronald McDonald Kinderfonds for making this possible. I will never forget the kindness, compassion, generousity and respect that this charity embodies.
It's our aim that by doing the HomeRide we can raise enough money to help other families going through the trauma of having a child in hospital spend as much time as possible helping that little one battle whatever illness has befallen them.
Donations can be made either via the GoFundMe page or directly on the HomeRide website. The reason for having the GoFundMe page as well is that it accepts more international payment methods than the HomeRide site. This is aimed more specifically at Dutch donaters having only iDEAL and bank transfer available.
Any donation, regardless of size would be fantastically welcome. I can't offer any material thanks, but rest assured that we'll be thinking of you all during the ride and this will push us forwards!
Thank you for reading this. I hope it conveys how highly we regard the work of the Ronald McDonald Charity.
Very best regards
Tim and Ellen
Organizer
Tim Feist
Organizer
Zwammerdam, NL, 11