When Alysha Enright’s nine-month-old daughter, Lilly, woke up one morning with a dry diaper and refused to eat, Alysha’s instincts told her something wasn’t right. The young mother from Fostoria, Ohio, quickly contacted their doctor, who recommended they head to Toledo for further care. Within days, what began as a gut feeling turned into every parent’s nightmare — Lilly’s appendix had burst, requiring emergency surgery and a hospital stay that would stretch nearly two weeks.
“I was terrified,” Alysha remembers. “When they told me a burst appendix could be fatal if it wasn’t caught in time, I was just praying to God she was going to be okay.”
In the middle of this frightening experience, Alysha was handed information about the Ronald McDonald House. Working as a crew member at a McDonald’s in Findlay, Alysha had always known about RMHC — even volunteering for events in the past — but never imagined she’d be on the receiving end of its services.
“I’ve worked at Ronald McDonald House events before, helping out families in tough situations,” Alysha says. “To actually need the House for my own family… it just made me realize how strong the McFamily really is. It was an honor to have helped before, and a blessing to have that support when we needed it.”
Alysha, her partner Ashton, and their three-year-old daughter Delilah stayed at Ronald McDonald House for 11 nights while Lilly recovered in the Pediatric ICU. The experience brought unexpected moments of peace and normalcy in the middle of chaos.
“Having a home away from home was everything,” Alysha says. “We live about an hour and a half away, so not having to drive back and forth every day was a huge relief. The meals, the kindness of the staff, the little things like craft bags for my older daughter to take to the hospital — it made all the difference.”
Delilah, especially, found joy in the playroom at the House, asking to visit it every night after hospital visiting hours ended. “It became our little routine,” Alysha recalls with a smile. “As soon as we walked through the door, Delilah would beg, ‘Can I please go play in the playroom, Mom?’ And we’d head downstairs for an hour so she could just be a kid again.”
Today, Lilly is thriving. Her incisions have healed, her appetite has soared, and the once-picky eater now devours two containers of baby food at a time. “She’s doing amazing,” Alysha says. “She’s so happy, growing like crazy — and honestly, I’d take a few scars over what could have happened any day.”
As Alysha prepares to return to work, she knows her connection to RMHC will feel even deeper. “When I’m back at work and asking people to round up for Ronald McDonald House Charities, it’s going to mean so much more. I’ve seen firsthand how much it matters.”
When asked what she would want other families or the community to know about the House, Alysha doesn’t hesitate. “It truly is a home away from home. There aren’t better words to describe it. It was our home when we couldn’t be in our own, and I’ll be forever thankful.”
