Personal| Mamanee's Personal Advocacy

remember the time that Hutch was confined in the charity ward of PGH, it was a make shift ward for Ward 9 since it was under construction. The patients and companions were placed in the farthest aisle of another ward which was facing the windows.



The children didn’t have any proper beds at all they were more like steel tables with crib mattresses. It was a different story for us though, we had to sleep on the floor with a card board box laid out. You didn’t even have control over the time you sleep, we were only allowed to sleep at 11PM yet we had to be up by 5AM, you didn’t have a choice since the nurse’s would ring a hand held bell to wake us up.


This was our day by day for Hutch and I, his favorite time would be when Spongebob was on the telly. I considered ourselves veterans of the ward, we watched other patients come and go and yet we were still in the hospital.


That year, Christmas was near. There was decorations in the hospital hallways and you could feel the rush outside the walls of the hospital, weather was getting chillier.


If it was a good day for Hutch when he wasn’t grumpy or didn’t feel much pain. He would sometimes tell me little stories of what if and ask the endless question of when we would be going home.


One day, we had visitors, not just ordinary visitors. These were visitors with gifts. We had several times in a day and almost a month of visitors, from companies and private individuals who would bring loot bags. It came to a point where the Tupperware we had for supplies became filled with food and toys. One visitor even gave cash for medicine.


I felt so happy for Hutch and I, the fact that we received gifts from strangers was such a great feeling. I saw Hutch smile each time he would receive a toy and he would receive a compliment for how good looking he was even though he was pale.


I asked Hutch that when he gets better that we do the same for others and give gifts on Christmas, he said yes, so I promised him that we would.


Hutch never got the chance to do so.


When Hutch died, I knew I had to keep that promise. The first Christmas without Hutch, I planned a small gift giving and asked for donations from my team mates. There were only two of us that went to PGH for the first round, and I cried all throughout. The second time, I had 4 volunteers and the third I had a whole group. It was the most gratifying experience, to fulfill my last promise to my son as well as to see the smiles we had brought to the children of the charity pediatric wards of PGH and Cancer Institute.


The sad thing is I haven’t been able to do a fourth round yet, due to the limitation of resources and time. This is my wish, to finally have another year of gift giving.

Seeing the smile on the children’s faces allows me to remember Hutch, how he smiled despite the pain.


Please like Smile for Hutch Facebook page for updates.


Read Hutch’s story here.



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10 comments

  1. Oh my. *Hugs! This made me cry. I'm so sorry for your loss Mommy. I cannot imagine the pain.

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    1. Hi Janice, sorry to make you cry. :( Yes it was truly hurtful and it took me years to get over my loss. I sometimes still mourn for him.

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  2. Mamanee, this made me tear up. I hope I can join your 4th round.

    Mars M.
    www.montessorionmars.com

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    1. Absolutely Mars! Let's hope that I get the chance to do a 4th. Thank you!

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  3. thanks for being an inspiration, Marie :) God bless u and your family.

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  4. Oh no, so sorry to hear this. I'm sure it's hard for you as any mom would probably feel for their kids. Great to know though that he is your inspiration in every thing you do.

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    1. Hello Rea, yes and my inspiration to become a better mother. :) Thank you!

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  5. Just read this, it made me cry... We will do our best for that 4th round, right? Aja!

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