Temiti Ngahooro - Dunedin
Three-year-old Temiti Ngahooro lives in Dunedin with parents Katie and Raphael and loves spending time in nature and hanging out with his cat, Rigby. He was born via C-section and taken straight to the NICU due to congenital defects, where he spent the first five months of his life. The family stayed at Ronald McDonald Family Room in Southland Hospital during this time. Since then, Temiti has faced many hurdles, including surgeries, and the Ngahooro’s have stayed in both Auckland and Christchurch Houses, a total of more than 170 nights so far.
Mum Katie explains those early days, “we learned after Temiti was born that he had several abnormalities including heart defects, neurological challenges, club foot and some vision and hearing issues. He developed an umbilical cord infection and pneumonia in his first week of life. It was all incredibly frightening as first time parents!” Katie and Raphael lived locally at the time, but still stayed at the Ronald McDonald Family Room so they could be as close as possible to Temiti. “Things were so uncertain and we often didn’t know if Temiti would make it through the night.”
Ten weeks later, the family was transferred to Auckland for Temiti to receive specialist care at the national children’s hospital for the next two and a half months, with Katie explaining, “those weeks were incredibly intense.” Katie stayed just down the road at the Domain House during this time, and she recalls one particularly harrowing night before Raphael had arrived when Temiti stopped breathing. “I was all on my own and so scared. The staff at Ronald McDonald House sat with me, listened to me, helped to calm me down and later checked in on me. Their kindness meant so much.”
As Temiti grew, things became less overwhelming. When he was just four months old, Katie and Raphael could take him outside by themselves for the very first time. “That was to Ronald McDonald House,” Katie laughs, “we joked that it was his first home! It felt like a huge milestone.” After five months, they could finally take him home. 
Since then the whānau have travelled to both Christchurch and Auckland for Temiti to receive specialist care including multiple surgeries. “Every time we’ve had to travel we’ve stayed at either the Christchurch or Auckland House – every time, it feels like we’re returning to our second home.” Katie has been blown away by the support they have received, expressing that the staff go above and beyond what she’d expect. “We were in Christchurch for Easter last year, which is a big deal for a three year old! When we woke up on Easter morning we were met with a big bunch of Easter treats and presents. It was such a lovely touch and reminded us that even during tough times, the little moments of joy still matter.” She also highlighted how wonderful the home-cooked meals were after a long day in the hospital, making life that little bit easier. “You connect with other families over dinner and in passing, a lot of them are in similar situations. When you’re far from home dealing with something very rare you can feel isolated quite easily – but Ronald McDonald House offers the support you need in so many different ways.”
Temiti is now three years old and uses a PEG (feeding) tube and mobility aids and will need ongoing treatment for the foreseeable future. Katie says that knowing RMHC NZ will be there for them every time they need gives them all a sense of relief, so they can just focus on Temiti. “RMHC is a safe place to land. There is just so much support and comfort to be found there.”
