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Many of you will know that Phoebe suffered a freak accident in April 2012 as she was crushed between a tree and a canal boat near Newbury whilst we were on on a canal boat holiday with Suzanne's brother and his family.  Phoebe was rushed to A&E in Reading where she had a ct scan and was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis in two places.  She was incredibly "lucky" in that it just missed her spine and she didn't suffer internal bleeding.  Phoebe was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford as Reading were not able to deal with her injuries - some 2.5 hours from our home in Worthing.

Phoebe spent 8 nights in hospital and whilst Suzanne slept on the ward, it wasn't so easy for Rob and Chloe.  Ronald McDonald Home from Home run a service from within John Radcliffe.  We waited 4 nights before a room became available in the hospital as priority is for parents with children in HDU or Intensive Care as parents aren't allowed to sleep on those wards.  We were classed as a priority as we were so far from home.

Originally we were told that Phoebe would stay in hospital for up to 4 weeks, amazingly she came home after just 7 nights (and was back to normal in 6 weeks - with the exception of her core strength!!). However, the last 4 nights when we had a room and facilities of Ronald McDonald were so much easier. We didn't have the last minute job of finding a local hotel or B&B.  It meant that Chloe didn't have to leave the hospital (if she didn't want to!) until she had to go back to school and the room was ours for as long as Phoebe stayed. To know that Rob and Chloe were near to support Suzanne was fantastic and made a huge difference.  When Rob took Chloe home to go back to school on the Sunday evening, Suzanne's mum was able to stay and support us in the privacy of her own room.

Ronald McDonald Home from Home meant we had a private bathroom, facilities to cook, store food and to do laundry.  It also meant we were able to take Phoebe upstairs in a wheelchair so we had a place to go to have afternoon tea (provided by Suzanne's mum!) to celebrate Suzanne's birthday.

This charity is therefore the one we have elected for our wedding gift list.  We have most things we need, but we would like to give something back to Ronald McDonald for making our lives just that little bit easier at a difficult time.

The Ronald McDonald House at Oxford Children’s Hospital is the eleventh Ronald McDonald House to open in the UK (opened in 2007), and the first House in the UK to be opened within the hospital building. The House is on the top floor of the new Hospital and offers 18 rooms where parents can get some much needed rest, reassured by the fact that they are literally under the same roof as their ill children.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So to help us celebrate our wedding, we'd welcome any donation you'd like to make.

Thank you,

Rob & Suzanne (nearly Mr & Mrs Clarke!)