The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation in Chermside is asking the local community to support its sixth annual Giving Day Appeal, which raises funds for research, equipment and patient-care initiatives.
This year, Giving Day will be held on Wednesday, 28 October, and The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation hopes to raise $150,000 for things like Comfort Packs for patients admitted to hospital without their personal belongings and sessions of Laughter Care, designed to help older patients feel connected and less alone during their hospital stay.
Chief Executive Officer of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, Steve Francia, said a group of supporters will contribute to a matched-giving fund, meaning donations from the community will be doubled until those matched funds run out.
“Every dollar you give could be matched and go twice as far to care for the hospital that cares for you,” Steve said.
A Personal Story of Care and Survival
The appeal has a personal connection for local patient Big Jon, who was first admitted to The Prince Charles Hospital 15 years ago in septic shock. He required life-saving treatment and months of intensive rehabilitation.
Jon, who has a rare autoimmune condition that causes dangerous infections, has since been hospitalised more than 400 times. He credits the hospital’s staff with giving him a second chance and describes the hospital, which he calls Charlie’s, as his second home.
“You get great care here, if you ask me, but they want to do even more, and to do that they need donations,” Jon said. “Giving Day’s all about raising money for research, equipment and the over-and-above stuff. It’s about supporting the amazing doctors and nurses who give patients like me a second chance.”
Over the years, Jon has received care from rehabilitation, physiotherapy, ICU, neurology, pathology and infectious diseases teams.
Senior Rehabilitation Medicine Physician Dr Ling Lan was among the staff who treated Jon, working with specialists and a multidisciplinary allied health team to help him regain muscle function and learn to walk again with a prosthetic limb after a leg amputation.
“I love rehab medicine because it respects the whole person and what they need,” Dr Lan said. “It’s a way we can show compassion and respect to our patients.”
Steve said the hospital staff were often “long-stayers” and that Dr Lan was one of them.
“They end up treating several generations of the same families and really get to know their patients,” he said.
Read more stories from the Chermside Guide’s print magazine here:
- Chermside Connect: Updates from the Community
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Organic Gardening in October
- Fish of the Month: Fringefin Trevally
- Brisbane Writers Festival Returns With Big Stories
- Preserving Stories Held in Treasured Objects
- Earrings Take Centre Stage at New Northside Market
- Chermside Army Camp
- Families Have Their Say on Playground Upgrade
- Kedron State School Celebrates 100 Years Of History
- Experience Bushland Come Alive at Night
- Emergency Services Expo Returns to Chermside
