Michael Johnson, his one-year-old daughter, Adeline, and Adeline’s grandmother, Michelle, were traveling from Maryland to the Chicago area to visit family when what was supposed to be a routine overnight stop turned into a medical emergency.
After stopping overnight at a campground in Fulton County, Adeline suddenly went into respiratory distress.
“It was terrifying,” Michael said.
An ambulance rushed Adeline to a local hospital before she was transferred to the Pediatric ICU in Toledo when her condition continued to worsen. As doctors worked to stabilize their daughter, Amanda immediately traveled from Maryland to be with her family.
“I second-guessed for a couple minutes if it was really that bad,” Michael recalled. “Then I got her in the ambulance, and her oxygen saturation was getting down toward 80 and her heart rate was above 200 beats per minute. No parent wants to feel that.”
Doctors later determined that a common respiratory virus had triggered a severe asthma attack.
While Adeline fought to recover, Michael had already been awake for nearly 38 hours. Amanda was traveling hundreds of miles to reach her daughter’s bedside. Their family was exhausted, overwhelmed and far from home.
Then someone in the Pediatric ICU introduced them to the Ronald McDonald House.
“As soon as we sat down, someone came in with snacks and told us about the Ronald McDonald House across the street,” Michael said. “They said, ‘You’ll have a place to sleep. It’s just one less thing you have to worry about.'”
“It was incredible,” Michael said. “I didn’t have to worry about finding a hotel when there was already so much going on.”
For two nights, the Ronald McDonald House became a place where the Johnson family could rest between long hours at the hospital. They had a comfortable bed, a hot shower and compassionate staff who understood they were experiencing one of the hardest moments of their lives. The House even provided enough space to temporarily park their 30-foot camper before the family made the long drive home.
“It just relieved a little bit of extra stress,” Michael said.
Amanda remembers arriving at the House and immediately feeling welcomed.
“They were so kind,” she said. “They explained everything and were very understanding of what we were going through.”
Today, Adeline is back home in Maryland and doing well. While she continues follow-up care with a pulmonologist, she’s back to being a happy toddler, playing, exploring and keeping her parents on their toes.
Before their stay, the Johnsons knew the Ronald McDonald House name. They simply never imagined they would need it. Experiencing the House firsthand changed their understanding of what it means to families facing a medical crisis.
“It kind of saved us when we were in a bad spot,” Michael said. “We wanted to be able to pay it forward in a way that we could.”
To help provide that same comfort for future families, the Johnson family chose to make a gift to the Ronald McDonald House and name a room in Adeline’s honor.
When asked what he hopes families experience when they walk through that room’s door, Michael’s answer wasn’t about the room itself. It was about what the Ronald McDonald House gave his family when they needed it most.
“I hope they feel whatever comfort they need to feel in that moment,” he said. “Just having one less thing to worry about.”
If your family is interested in sponsoring a room at the Ronald McDonald House, contact info@rmhctoledo.org.