“The gift of being together just makes you feel like you’re going to be okay.”

When a child is sick, it affects the entire family, and for the Burrell family, it all happened so quickly. A hole was discovered in baby Piper’s heart, and she needed urgent surgery to close it.

“Everything was disrupted. Routines, all the things you take for granted, that keep you grounded were no more,” explains mom Lindsey. “As all this was happening, my husband and I panicked because we knew we couldn’t afford a hotel room for as long as we needed to be at the hospital to stay close to Piper. Thankfully, their local Ronald McDonald House took this huge weight off our shoulders.”

Lindsay was able to get a room at the House just down the street from the hospital, so that she didn’t have to travel to her family’s home and leave Piper to prepare for surgery without her mother by her side. Lindsay reflects, “When families are split apart, especially during tough times, it weighs on everybody, both mentally and physically. The gift of being together – it just makes you feel like you’re going to be okay.” 

Along with getting to be close to her family in a time of need, Lindsay sees the value in being near other families going through similar situations. She explains, “What’s a gift, too, is to be able to connect with other families going through the same thing. It's so precious and something that we cherish about the House.”