Aliya Mason - Wellington
April and Mariri Mason hail from Porirua (Te Whanganui-a-Tara), on the northern shores of Wellington Harbour. Their children, Aliya (seven) and twelve-year-old Ezekiel are passionate about their sport and spending time with loved ones. Aliya was just four years old when she was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening blood condition called aplastic anaemia that changed the course of their lives for the following year.
Late 2022, April began noticing some common flu-like symptoms in her youngest daughter Aliya. “We initially took her to our local A&E and she was diagnosed with a virus,” April explains, “three days later though her symptoms had progressed; she became very pale and could no longer walk.” April rushed Aliya into Wellington Hospital where bloodwork was carried out; the results showed that Aliya was low on red, platelet and white cells. She was sent straight to ICU to receive antibiotics through a central line along with a transfusion, and the next day, April and Aliya were Life Flighted to Christchurch for further tests.
“We arrived in Christchurch just the two of us, with Mariri and Ezekiel joining us later. We knew no one and Aliya needed to be tested for things like leukaemia and other serious blood disorders; it was a very scary, isolating time for me.” As soon as they arrived, Aliya was wheeled into surgery on her legs along with a bone marrow biopsy, to try to find the problem. Unfortunately, Aliya didn’t react well to surgery and had to spend time in the ICU. “Aliyas lungs collapsed and she became septic,” April recalls, “so she had to be intubated and heavily sedated. During this whirlwind, we stayed just down the road from the hospital at Ronald McDonald House.” The bone marrow biopsy uncovered that Aliya was suffering from aplastic anaemia; her bone marrow wasn’t producing enough new blood cells.
With Aliya’s condition not improving, the family were taken by air ambulance to Auckland, where she was admitted to the national children’s hospital and straight to PICU. She stayed in PICU for the following 26 days. “This was the first time we stayed at Ronald McDonald House in Auckland. It became our home for the next two months while things were really scary with Aliya,” April says, “Mariri and I would alternate staying on the ward with Aliya and coming back to RMHC for a rest.” 
Eventually Mariri needed to travel back to Wellington with Ezekiel for work and school, and April stayed with Aliya for the next year during treatment. “Mariri and Ezekiel would come up periodically to visit, and always stay at either Domain or Grafton Mews House,” April explains, “we spent Aliya’s fifth birthday in RMHC, Christmas, a lot of important milestones and they accommodated our whole whānau every time.” April was overwhelmed at the generosity of RMHC NZ, saying “being able to come and go as we needed, 24/7 and close to Aliya’s side was crucial. It was such a relief to have this place of warmth and comfort during that time – especially for Mariri and Ezekiel to be able to visit us.”
While the free accommodation and meals were extremely well received by the whānau, it was the additional services that RMHC NZ provided that blew April away. “So many little details are considered. Aliya loves arts and crafts, so the art classes and school on site were wonderful for her spirits. Pet therapy really brought her joy and as a mum of a sick child, seeing joy in her face during this time was incredible.” Ezekiel also enjoyed the on-site school, finding solace in connecting to other siblings of hospitalised children, especially when he couldn’t visit Aliya in the hospital.
The family have stayed between the Houses for over 170 nights, with the last stay occurring late 2024. Aliya is now back home in Porirua and looking forward to getting back into her sport, choosing non-contact options such as netball. April looks back on the traumatic two-year period when Aliya was diagnosed and treated with mixed feelings. “Obviously no parent wants to see their child suffer. But RMHC allowed us to realise there are other families facing similar journeys – it helped us to connect to them. Seeing the staff and volunteers care so well for the families was really inspiring, they gave us strength and we were so blessed to have them.”
“We will forever be grateful to RMHC NZ and the people who support them. It meant the absolute world to be helped in the way we were at such a difficult time. My girl was diagnosed at four years old, with a progressive diagnosis, needing a transplant to survive. We were separated from our family during this time but thanks to RMHC NZ, we could be together when possible.”
April and Aliya were in the House for Pyjama Day in 2023, enjoying a cosy day filled with face painting and fun. She says, “I think Schools should take part in Pyjama Day because it's fun, it's cozy, it's like a sleepover with your friends. It’s a day of remembering Tamariki who are in hospital unwell, showing support to them at the same time.” If you would like to support Pyjama Day 2025, you can do so by donating to RMHC NZ today.