Ruby Mae's Wish donation
On Friday 15th September the faces behind Ruby Mae’s Wish (Nick and Kim Peake – Ruby’s dad and mum) made a very emotional return to John Hunter Hospital for the first time since saying goodbye to their beautiful Daughter (Ruby) in April 2022, for a major donation from the Charity they established to honour Ruby and her caring nature.
Nick and Kim were welcomed with open arms by the amazing, caring and beautiful doctors and nurses from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (many of whom cared for Ruby and supported them through a nightmare). The staff put on a lovely morning tea and invited patients, parents and carers along for the presentation of the medical equipment donated by Ruby Mae’s Wish totalling a value of $8,970.90.
Kim and Nick had been in continuous communications with the PICU staff at John Hunter Hospital since February 2023 about what equipment would be best utilised and how it would be used to help care for children admitted to the ward and ultimately their families. This was not a decision that the staff at JHH PICU ward took lightly, there was many deliberations with various doctors and nurses about their suggestions and what would be most useful and most beneficial to the ward.
The medical equipment donated was:
- 1 x Airvo3 costing $7,608.00 – John Hunter suggested this piece of equipment as they stated it “is a much needed piece of equipment for us in PICU. What it will mean is that we can take patients who are on a high flow oxygen therapy out of their room out to the balcony, outside or around the hospital. It has a built in battery that means that the children who are stuck in their room can now have some quality time with their family outside of their PICU room. This will go a long way to improve their recovery”.
Through conversations and correspondence with John Hunter we learned that the ward currently has a Airvo2 and it is one of the most commonly used machines within PICU. The advantage of the upgrade to the Airvo3 is the 1 hr battery life and that it is portable. This was the number one requested item from staff due to the benefits to the patients and their families.
- The second item donated was a Milk Warmer costing $1,362.90 – The staff requested the warmer “to be able to heat breast milk/formula for our babies who are needing this. It will allow the parents and our nurses to deliver better nutrition to our unwell babies and infants”. It is a waterless warming and thawing device that helps to optimise and standardise human milk processes. The milk warmer aims to maintain the integrity of human milk by warming it to a temperature consistent with expressed breastmilk and not exposing it to a high heat.
The doctors and nurses were all so humbled and touched by the generosity of the charity, some of the staff who attended the morning tea and presentation even came in on their days off to show their thanks and gratitude towards Nick and Kim for what they have accomplished despite the adversity they have experienced though their loss of Ruby. The value and the impact of the equipment donated is significant in itself but the staff wanted to express what the enormity of Nick and Kim’s visit had on them personally and professionally, so they reached out after the visit to express this by stating “your effort to come and meet our staff and show us that through your adversity you have found the strength to help others. Your visit and interaction with our team was a great boost to our team’s motivation and commitment to keep giving the best possible care to the children we look after”.
John Hunter PICU fitted both pieces of equipment with a plaque which proudly shows Ruby Mae’s Wish logo and details, which will help us keep part of Ruby’s dreams of being a doctor alive (we are still working on the mermaid part).
Our visit to JHH, the donation and Ruby Mae’s Wish would not be possible without the generosity of each and every person who has showed us their support and kindness by promoting the charity, sharing our details, wearing purple in recognition, sending messages of support, donations and everything else in between. We are so humbled and thankful to each and everyone of you and we will continue to try and make positives out of the negative cards we have been given. All because we will always continue to keep Ruby’s dreams and spirt alive in the best and biggest ways we can.
Ruby Mae’s Wish
Barraba NSW 2347
Nick Peake 0428 564 515
Kim Peake 0438 355 500
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"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard" - Winnie the Pooh