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DOCTORS can’t tell Shirley McKernan what condition is threatening her daughter’s life.
Matilda has an “undiagnosed life-threatening disease”, that’s all they are sure of.
Matilda, 8, was black and blue when she was born and spent the first six months of her life in a Melbourne hospital.
Doctors have done “every test possible”, her mother says, and sought answers far and wide to no avail.
Matilda’s story has even featured in The American Medical Journal, in an attempt to diagnose her.
But while her mother may never know a name or a label for Matilda’s disease, she does know that she can rely on the Very Special Kids program that has helped her family by rasing money for their Piggy Bank Appeal.
The appeal runs in Victoria for the month of September and aims to raise $1 million to help families of people with life threatening illnesses like Matilda’s.
It was the Very Special Kids program that came to Ms McKernan’s aid when Matilda’s wheelchair needed modifications.
But more than that, the program offers Ms McKernan a place to go for support.