What do Master Blaster, tractor tyres, tug-o-war and fairy dresses have in common? Well to be frank, it’s a loose-goose connection, but Retinopathy of Prematurity was the cause of Stevie Wonder's blindness, and Our Kids is fundraising to buy an Icon Go Retinal Imaging System to test for this condition.
Our Kids has already raised $125,000 of the $159,000 price tag from a variety of events the community has taken part in. The most recent event, the Lismore Samson Challenge, raised nearly $30,000.
Some babies are at risk of going blind at 35 weeks. With locally available testing, the District’s medical teams can conduct a retinal scan any time there’s concern of a risk and treatment can begin without delay.
Currently, babies must travel to the Gold Coast for each of their two-to-three required tests. This equipment is portable and can moved between Grafton and Lismore Base Hospitals and Tweed Valley Hospital.
“This equipment helps our premature babies, who are vulnerable and need examination for Retinopathy of Prematurity,” said Tweed Valley Hospital Director of Paediatrics Dr Andrew Hutchinson said.
“It is cutting-edge technology that will give a picture of the back of the eye so the local team can immediately send pictures to the Qld Paediatric Team, to provide specialist treatment remotely.”
The Lismore Samson has been going for 15 years, with 6,604 competitors doing the Samson team event during this time.
This year, 113 teams of four competed in the Samson team event, 210 in Samson Kids, and 20 in Samson solo.
“We had a great time doing the Samson challenge and really enjoyed it as a team,” Lismore Base Hospital Children’s Ward Clinical Nurse Specialist Justine McKinnon said.
Justine competed in the Blister Sisters team alongside other nurses Samantha Sweeney and Alyce Dunlop.
“Some parts were gruelling, but it was a lot of fun! It was a great opportunity to represent our ward and also support Our Kids who support us so much on so many different avenues throughout the year,” Justine said.
“Of course, none of this would be possible without the amazing work of volunteers,” Our Kids Fundraising Coordinator Rebekka Battista said.
"Each year it takes approximately 120 volunteers to host the Samson Competitors. That means 1,800 volunteers have stepped up over the years for this event alone!”
Some fun facts of the 15-year Samson Challenge include:
- 165,100 burpees completed
- 1,651km swum
- 6.604km run
- the prowler (aka vomitron) has been pushed 330,200m
- 6,604 jerry cans have been carried 120m
- the sled has been pulled 396,240m
- a LOT of toilet paper has been used for those nervous pre-race moments (movements?). 😊
Through the generosity of our community, Our Kids has bought more than $2.5 million worth of paediatric equipment for our local hospitals.
The Samson has helped buy items like intensive care resuscitation unit for the Special Care nursery, cardiotocography machine for women care, and a Giraffe Resuscitiare for kids ward LBH.
Pictured:
From L: Huen, Dr Helen Kasby consultant paedtrician, Alyce Dunlop clinical nurse specialist, Justine Mckinnon clinical nurse specialist, Samantha Sweeney clinical nurse specialist competed in the Sampson as the Blister Sisters team