01 Jul 2008
Sam Roberts The Sam Roberts Family Unit
When little Sam Roberts died three years ago from a rare neurological disease, his parents resolved to make it easier for other families to be closer to their terminally ill children.
And on June 30 2008, what would have been Sam’s eighth birthday, Marty and Michelle Roberts lived up to their word, officially opening the Sam Roberts Family Unit at the Women's & Children's Hospital.
Funded by the Sam Roberts Family Trust, a community supporter of the WCH Foundation, the Sam Roberts Family Unit is a facility designed to offer a comfortable, private space for terminally ill children and their families.
“My wife and I set up the Trust in 2005 with the aim of raising funds to support the work of the Palliative Care Unit at the Hospital,” Marty said.
“The Sam Roberts Family Unit will mainly be used by the patients and families of children with less common terminal illnesses such as the disease Sam had – Niemann-Pick Disease Type C, which only affects around 12 children in Australia every year.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the community and, through a number of fundraising events we have organised since we set up the Trust, we have raised more than $100,000.”
The Palliative Care Unit at the Hospital cares for some 50 South Australian children with life limiting illnesses every year.
These children can often be cared for in their own homes, but many of them end up in Hospital when their medical care becomes too complicated for the family to manage.
The Sam Roberts Family Unit has been designed to be a private area where parents can spend time together with their child as a family unit. It has two sides – one with a bed for the patient and the other with a kitchenette, sofa bed and entertainment system for the family.
It is a facility that will make a real difference for families at a time when all they are focused on is savouring the last precious moments with their child.
Through the Trust, Marty and Michelle now plan to raise money to fund an art therapist who will work with terminally ill patients and their families, as well as a ‘wish list’ of medical equipment which will enable patients to be cared for at home.
The major fundriasing initiative for these projects will be a 1100km bike ride called "Cycle 4 Sam - Tour of South Australia" which will commence in October.
How you can help
Previous page
