By Gabriella Vukman
Local mum and psychologist Emma-Rose Parsons will commence a 170km run on 18 April to raise money for Eastern Health’s Paediatric facilities.
Seeing as the $24 million raised for this year’s Good Friday Appeal goes exclusively towards the Royal Children’s Hospital, Eastern Health hospitals such as Maroondah, Angliss and Box Hill miss out on much needed funds.
Aiming to secure $30,000 for a new ultrasound machine among other items, Ms Parsons is currently at just over $25,000 and promises to complete the whole run in a tutu should her funding goal be met.
“It is so paramount that we get these resources so that our local kids at our local hospitals are given the best-possible care,” Ms Parsons said.
“I was thinking about how you raise money like this and I think usually something that sounds a bit outrageous is a good starting point so I thought, ‘what is something outrageous that I can do?’
“I love running and this distance is sufficiently outrageous and hopefully running past the hospitals will bring more awareness.”
Commencing at Lake Mountain at 5pm and ending up at Federation Square in Melbourne’s CBD by 7pm the next day, Ms Parsons will be running all night.
Ms Parsons said, “As soon as you are running these kinds of distances you get lots of niggles.”
“You will go through phases where you feel a bit unwell where your body is trying to put the blood into your extremities and trying to process food at the same time.”
“The sleep deprivation can be really tough and can play tricks on your mind but as long as you are aware of these things and have a contingency plan you can stay safe.”
Ms Parsons will have medical professions travelling with her and will avoid roads where possible.
“I was not previously aware that a lot of the fundraising that happens with the Good Friday Appeal only goes to Royal Children’s and actually none of that money goes towards our local paediatric services,” Ms Parsons said.
“The staff that I have met and communicated with at the hospital are some of the most incredible, dedicated nurses and doctors I have come across but they don’t have all of the things that they need to do their job.”
“The point behind this was to get some money to buy those resources so that those doctors and nurses can give our kids the care that they really deserve,” Ms Parsons said.
Acting Director of the Foundation at Eastern Health Bree Jopp said, “The Eastern Health Foundation is the charitable arm of Eastern Health and was created to support all of the innovative projects and equipment and funding that is required beyond government support.”
“Quality healthcare should be available to everyone regardless of status and we want to ensure that when people are admitted to hospital through the emergency department feel safe so the funds that Emma-Rose is raising are going to help improve the care and support families receive when in the emergency department.
“The funds that she is raising are going towards our paediatric wards and will be split between three emergency departments at Box Hill, Angliss and Maroondah,” Ms Jopp said.
“These funds are really important to the broader community because it is likely that someone they know will need the support from the emergency department.”
Six months ago, Ms Parsons decided she would embark on her fundraising endeavour and she has been juggling work, her family and running schedule ever since.
Ms Parsons said, “I am currently doing six days a week and doing two weight sessions a week and working full-time and being a full-time mum.”
“I have amazing support so that is really great and I get up really early in the morning to get runs done before the kids get up mostly.”
“I’ve just got great friends and a really supportive husband and family so that makes it doable. At the moment the training load is crazy so at the moment I am doing a 70km training run which just when I say it out loud feels a bit nuts but it is all for a good reason right,” Ms Parsons said.
To donate or sponsor Emma-Rose Parsons go to eastern-health-foundation-community.raisely.com/m2m
