Three-year-old Caiden McIntyre from Cambuslang had his hopes set on joining his friends at Newton Farm Nursery on a sponsored 45-minute walk to raise funds for the Kilbryde Hospice. He had worked hard to line up his sponsors and had raised over £235, but things didn’t quite go to plan.
A few days prior to the walk, Caiden was admitted to the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow with a bowel blockage. Unfortunately, this meant he was too unwell to participate in the walk. Caiden’s parents, Alana and Marc, had been chatting about what they should do with the donations knowing that he was unable to take part.
It was at this point Caiden’s brother, Kai, put his hand up to walk in Caiden’s place, surprising both parents.
“Marc and I were sitting chatting about the money and decided that we would make the donation early, even though Caiden wouldn’t be able to take part. Kai had been listening to our conversation and said that he wanted to do the walk on behalf of Caiden. He said that he was his big brother and that he would make him proud,” said Alana.
Coincidentally, the day prior to the walk taking place was What Matters to You Day, an initiative supported by the Royal Hospital for Children where staff encourage patients and their families to share what matters to them. On What Matters to You Day, staff provided families on the ward with white t-shirts to be designed with what ‘mattered’ to them. For Kai, it was making his brother proud.
The family drew matching designs on their t-shirts and Kai’s read, “Caiden’s in ward 2C, that’s why it’s up to me.”
“We were incredibly proud and surprised. Normally Kai wouldn’t walk the length of himself. The only time you see him really active is when he has PE at school. Luckily, Caiden’s nursery is attached onto Kai’s school, and the head teacher said that she was so pleased with the kind offer from Kai. She had no issue with him going ahead with the walk on his brother’s behalf,” said Marc.
Mandy Meechan, Chief Nurse Hospital Paediatrics at the Royal Hospital for Children explained that this is the perfect example of why initiatives like What Matters To You are important as part of the hospital’s care for families.
“This initiative is about having meaningful conversations with individuals as well as families and their carers. Using creative ways to prompt conversations, particularly with kids and their families, encourages discussions and helps us as healthcare professionals to engage with them on decisions around their care. In this instance, we were delighted that Caiden was able to display how much he was here for his brother in a fun, loving way that makes sense to a three-year-old,” said Mandy.
Alana and Kai took part in the sponsored walk on the 7th of June, proudly wearing their What Matters to You t-shirts.
“Everyone was taking photos of us, even the nursing staff before we left. We video called Caiden during the walk and everyone was waving to him and shouting his name.
“Ward 2C were amazing. The staff were great with us as well as Caiden. That is why we wanted to include them in our t-shirt design, to include them with the walk as well,” said Alana.
