Ambulance Victoria (AV) staff donned the ‘Team AV’ running kits on Sunday, 17 March, as they took part in the Run for the Kids to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Good Friday Appeal.
Team AV was made up of paramedics and corporate staff from across the state, along with some of their family members, who ran or walked the 4.7km short course and 14.4km long course across Melbourne.
Running for a good cause.
The fun run raised a total of $1.3 million for the Good Friday Appeal.
AV Director Strategic Planning Fiona Smeaton ran the long course in her fourth time participating in the Run for the Kids.
“I love being part of this event as my son was a patient at the Children’s when he was a baby and he was given such great care by all the staff,” she said.
“It was great to see so many families run yesterday, as it shows how important the RCH is to people across Melbourne.”
RCH is one of AV’s key partners in delivering the highest quality healthcare to Victorians, with ambulances routinely transporting children from across the state to this world-leading hospital.
Fiona Smeaton at R4K.
AV is closely linked to this year’s appeal, with the son of Warragul Paramedic Jacob Every and his wife Erin one of the Faces of the Appeal.
Two-year-old Finley was born with myelomeningocele – a severe form of spina bifida.
He underwent his first major spinal surgery within the first 48 hours of his life, which reduced the severity of his conditions.
Finley continued to receive treatment from specialist care teams at the RCH and was six weeks old when he was diagnosed with bilateral vocal cord paralysis, requiring a tracheostomy.
He’s already undergone four major surgeries, and various MRIs, x-rays and scope studies.
Finley is fed through a nasogastric tube as he awaits yet another surgery to insert a feeding tube into his stomach.
