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Paying It Forward

It was Easter Sunday 2006, and the Hoeflaak family of Canfield, Ontario, was preparing to cook over an outdoor fire pit.

Evan, 3, and his brother, Aaron, 5, were running into the house to decorate Easter eggs when Evan suddenly tripped, falling into the fire pit. The family celebration abruptly turned into a race-by-ambulance to a children’s trauma hospital an hour away.

Evan’s parents, Julie and Arie, sat by his hospital bed for two days, sleepless and terrified. Third-degree burns covered almost 30 percent of Evan’s body, and he was hooked up to machines and IVs. He would need extensive skin grafts, and the doctors weren’t sure they could save one of his hands.

A few days into their stay at the hospital, a nurse told Julie and Arie there was a place for them at the nearby Ronald McDonald House. “I’d heard of the Ronald McDonald House, but never in a million years did I think I’d need its support,” Julie says. “I thank God every day that He guided us to the Ronald McDonald House. I don’t think we would have made it through without them.”

An Extended Stay

Although Evan had recovered enough to be discharged three weeks after the incident, he still had a long road ahead of him. He required two trips a day to two different hospitals for dressing changes. Evan also required physical therapy because he was unable to walk due to muscle atrophy. Julie spent countless hours guiding him through his muscle-stretching exercises.

Although he had been released from the hospital, Evan’s family continued to stay at the House because of his daily appointments. His family had a quiet, comfortable bedroom, three meals a day provided by volunteers and activities for the boys. Aaron went to an on-site childcare service provided by a local agency when Julie took Evan to therapy, allowing Julie to focus on helping Evan heal.

Julie found tremendous support in House staff members and volunteers. “They were everything to me: my chauffeur to the hospitals, my support system, my friends,” she says. Julie and the boys stayed at the House for 53 days. She cried when they left — it was hard leaving what had become their temporary home.

Pay It Forward

More than a year later, Evan has full use of his hand and is a healthy and playful. He doesn’t think about the surgeries and the dressing changes, or the needles and the blood work. He and Aaron just think about the House and the fun they had there. “The Ronald McDonald House gave Evan wonderful memories during what was a horrific time,” Julie says. “How do you say, ‘Thank you’ for that?”

The Hoeflaak family says thanks by asking others to donate to Ronald McDonald House Charities. During their stay, people showered both boys with gifts. But Julie and Arie asked that people donate to the House in Hamilton instead. Family, friends and neighbors — people they didn’t even know but had heard about Evan — wanted to help.

“The best way to express our gratitude is to pay it forward,” Julie says. “Ronald McDonald House is at the top of our list of charities to donate to, and we encourage others to do the same.”

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