That's so fab

Hehe if anyone watched the news story, the girl at the end in the grey coat buying sweets was me! Hehe! I recorded the story on my phone, I'll post it later.

Lots of fantastic news, offers & updates. Thank you all.

I'm sure that family, local friends & community have this covered, but I think a LOT about Rosie's brothers, & how this must be affecting them. I wish there was something we could do to help them/give them a treat or two, without taking away from Rosie & her needs.

Yes. I think we should keep this thread focused on the recovery and what can be done to help.

Good luck to those that bought Raffle tickets! There's some amazing things to win (and you can still buy tickets if you go to the FB page).

Some pretty amazing news on the FB page:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...63320460513244

(The bake sale/raffle has raised just under 18K!)

OMG $18k!!! That is PHENOMENAL!!! Those girls really did a phenomenal job.

I exchanged a brief text with Oak earlier this evening, he and Rosie and some nurses watched the news segment in the hospital. So awesome. (I just looked on CHCH's site, though, and I can't find the story up there yet.)

That is bloody fantastic!!

Plus it's even more bloody fantastic Doug, Rosie and family were able to see the news segment.

It's up on the CHCH website now: http://www.chch.com/friends-oakville...ze-fundraiser/

Thanks for that AX- amazing fundraising - great friends and clearly amazing bakers

There's an odd feeling of detachment in all of this. The fundraising effort is completely extraordinary - the two girls who started the bake sale idea can have had absolutely no idea it would catch the imagination of the local public and media in the way that it has. We were also very impressed by what they said on the TV news (and, it must be said, by the way the news was reported) - those are two awesome young ladies.

The family is focusing our efforts, when not in the hospital, on negotiating the processes involved in insurance and legal claims, which when all's said and done will provide the bulk of funding for adapting the house and providing for Rosie's medical and rehabilitative needs. The community fundraising initiatives - which almost without exception have been spearheaded by classmates and neighbours, with help from their parents - have provided not only a great source of comfort to the family, but a concrete indication to Rosie that her friends are not "moving on" while she's stuck in the hospital. Seeing a bunch of her friends on the news (not to mention her own picture!) provoked the closest thing to a grin we've seen for a few days! Between what the legal system will provide, and what the community is offering both financially and practically (and yes indeed, we have had offers of help from many, many quarters, for design and construction services as well as products and materials), I am confident that Rosie will not lack for the resources to reach whatever goal she sets herself in future. That is seriously wonderful, and we are grateful to the bottom of our hearts for everyone's help.

Without going into too much gory detail, there are still a number of acute concerns with Rosie's medical situation that means she will certainly remain in the ICU through Christmas and the New Year. As her friends pointed out, the fact that she can't speak is very frustrating for Rosie but doesn't alter who she is. Her breathing is doing really well, though, which we hope will mean that she will be able to be weaned off the ventilator before moving to more active rehab, and will at least be able to have a speaking valve for her tracheostomy. There are challenges remaining with both her gastrointestinal and urological systems, which will likely require further surgeries in the medium term, but the trajectory of all of the acute care issues is for sure heading in the right direction.

Shirtback, thanks for thinking about Rosie's brothers. They are also being very well looked after: the elder one in particular (he's 13 and hormonal enough right now even without all this added crap to deal with) is finding things a bit difficult to process but is getting there with appropriate help. Younger brother, who just turned 7 last week, spends most of his time doing a good impression of being oblivious, but then comes out with an extraordinarily insightful comment that just floors us. For example, while reading a bedtime story ("The Day the Crayons Came Home" by Drew Daywalt - it and its companion "The Day the Crayons Quit" are quite fun to read 'cause you can do lots of silly accents for the different coloured crayons) there was a passage about all the missing crayons being damaged and misshapen and wouldn't fit in their box, so their owner has to build a new box to put them in. "Rosie is a bit like the broken crayons so we have to fix our house box so she can come home." Suddenly the air was all oniony,..

Schnooks has kept me up to speed with what's been going on here. Thanks a million to all those who've sent messages, as well as those who've commented on here (and of course, to everybody who has contributed either through RBC or through the GoFundMe). It is, as has been pointed out, truly heartwarming that there is so much compassion and support within a virtual community as well as in the real-world community, and that the real and the virtual collide in such a positive way. I like to think of myself as an archetype of the rather staid, stiff-upper-lip sort of Englishman who wouldn't dream of talking about money or discussion emotions in public, yet here I find myself doing both and frequently having to stop typing to cry. Funny, that.

Oh, and to anyone not in the western GTA, here's CHCH's piece, now up on their website:
http://www.chch.com/friends-oakville...ze-fundraiser/

This is quite an amazing tale to follow.

Oakvillian, as the mum of a daughter who's used a wheelchair for most of her life I send you and your family all my love and empathy. I'm thinking of Rosie and hoping that she gets stronger every day, and that all her 'fixable' medical issues are resolved with a great outcome.

Using a wheelchair for mobility will mean that Rosie will experience life in a different way than before, but experience life she will, with all its ups and downs, with all its ordinary and extraordinary happenings, with all its challenges, excitement and joy.

Like any other young person, Rosie will go to school, choose a career, fall in and out of love, and be a source of great happiness and the odd 'bloody kids!' moment for you and your wife.

Rosie won't be defined by using a wheelchair instead of her legs to get around. She'll be defined by what was always going to define her - her personality, her strength, her determination, and the support and love of her family.

Finally, while you're taking care of everyone else, please take care of you too.

I'm still trying to push the message out, exploring ways of putting it out to my company's 17k+ employees

Nothing but admiration for your courage and that of your family.

Sending every positive thought for the future.