The Spadafora Family
Meghan and Mark live in Wellington with their gorgeous little boy Stanley, who is three years old. Like most families with a preschooler, life is busy, loud, and full of fun - their days are spent at playgrounds, reading books, heading out for bike rides, and building structures from just about anything Stanley can get his hands on.
It's a life his family don't take for granted. Stanley’s journey began with uncertainty long before he was even born.
At Meghan’s 20-week pregnancy scan, doctors identified a right aortic arch and signs that Stanley may have a vascular ring; a rare condition where the aorta forms a ring around the oesophagus and windpipe. Sadly, when Stanley was just six weeks old, the family was incorrectly told the condition was no longer a concern. Over the months that followed, Meghan and Mark found themselves fighting for answers.
Stanley developed loud, rattly breathing and struggled to swallow. As he grew, his symptoms worsened - and by the time he was 10 months old, he was refusing solid food completely. The reason was frightening: due to Stanley’s right aortic arch, a vascular ring had formed and was compressing his oesophagus and windpipe more and more as he grew.
For Meghan and Mark, receiving the confirmed diagnosis was emotional. “It was a real mix of emotions,” Meghan says. “Obviously it was heartbreaking. As a parent, all you want is to keep your child safe, happy and healthy. You don’t want to see them in pain, and you want to protect them from hard things - finding out he would need major surgery was tough.”
But alongside the fear was relief. After such a stressful and uncertain time, finally having answers - and knowing there was treatment available - gave the family hope. They also felt comforted knowing they would have somewhere to stay through the process, thanks to Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand (RMHC NZ).
Stanley travelled to Auckland for further testing, and what was meant to be a one-night stay quickly turned into much longer. His surgery was scheduled for the following week, and then further testing uncovered a few unrelated issues that needed to be resolved before surgery could go ahead. With each new development, the family’s stay was extended again. In total, Meghan, Mark and Stanley spent three and a half weeks staying at Ronald McDonald House.
Stanley eventually underwent surgery to repair his vascular ring, and true to his personality, he bounced back almost instantly. “He’s such a tough, energetic, curious kid,” Meghan says, “the nurses really struggled tokeep him still, even in ICU!”
For Meghan and Mark, being able to stay at Ronald McDonald House meant they could stay close to the hospital while keeping their family together. They could move easily between the hospital and the House throughout the day and focus on what mattered most: Stanley.
That support became especially important when Stanley was in ICU and neither parent could stay overnight with him. “We valued this the most when Stanley was in ICU,” Meghan says, “we both went back to Ronald McDonald House for the night, but when one of the nurses called to say Stanley was really upset, I was able to be there for him really quickly.”
Stanley will soon return to Auckland for more tests, and Meghan says they will likely be staying at Ronald McDonald House again. When asked what they would have done without RMHC NZ, Meghan says they were fortunate to have family living on the outskirts of Auckland - but it would have made an already stressful time even harder. “It’s pretty far from the hospital,” she says. “It would have been really tough.”
Instead, the family had a warm, welcoming place to stay, just minutes away from Stanley’s hospital bed. “We are beyond grateful for RMHC,” Meghan says. “What a special place.”
Looking back on Stanley's journey, Mark says the family's experience showed them the power of charities working together. As a Board member of Heart Kids NZ - another organisation that supported their family - he has seen this collaboration from both sides.
"It takes a village to raise a child," he says, "and it takes a community of interconnected, passionate charities to help families through what is undeniably the hardest time for any family. None of this happens without the generosity of donors and supporters. We've experienced first-hand what that giving makes possible."