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Her mother burst into tears as she watched the donations on their Givealittle page climb last night after sharing their family’s plight in the Herald.
Meanwhile, the director of a medical equipment supply company has offered to donate one of the machines, meaning the fundraised money can go towards the many costs associated with having a child with complex medical needs.
Maddi Wilson, 9, has a condition called bronchiectasis, in which scarring builds up in the airways, allowing excess mucus to accumulate and become a breeding ground for germs.
The mucus helps small illnesses develop into big infections and the infections create more scarring, which in turn worsens the mucus.
Mum Victoria Wilson said twice-daily use of a cough assist machine during breathing physiotherapy helps clear the mucus from Maddi’s lungs, meaning her body can fight most viruses without developing an infection and ending up on antibiotics or in hospital.
But the machine is on loan from Tauranga Hospital and they cannot keep it full time, as other people also need to use it, meaning whenever they give the machine back, Maddi quickly becomes sick again.
“A simple viral bug for Maddi always turns nasty,” Wilson said.
The family wanted to maintain the best lung function they could for Maddi, as more scarring in her airways would continue worsening her condition permanently.
Wilson had said Maddi was “a wonderful little girl” who wanted to enjoy her childhood.
Maddi Wilson, 9, suffers from bronchiectasis.
“She’s 9 years old and she deserves a good life.”
A family friend encouraged them to set up a Givealittle page with a fundraising goal of $20,000 so they could buy their own cough assist machine.
There were about $2200 in donations yesterday afternoon, but after news broke of Maddi’s condition, donations began flooding in. As of this morning, people had given more than $23,000.
“I literally never ever thought that would be like that,” Wilson said today. “It blew my mind.”
The family had been watching the donations climb and started wondering whether they could reach $10,000 - half their goal - by the end of the weekend. When they next refreshed the page, one family had donated a whopping $7000 in one go, and they had reached the $20,000 goal.
The cough assist machine (pictured) helps clear mucus from Maddi's lungs.
“I literally burst into tears . . . there’s no words for how amazing that was.”
Wilson said she appreciated every donation and was touched by some of the lovely comments people left, encouraging Maddi.
“I think the thing is, because she’s so little and she’s a child, people can look at their children . . . it’s very hard to think of other kids sick and struggling.”
This morning, director of Active Healthcare Edward Bishop contacted the Herald offering to donate a machine for Maddi.
“It’s an issue we’ve seen throughout New Zealand, we do what we can to support patients where possible and these machines certainly help keep people out of hospital,” he said.
Wilson said she felt as if she could cry, hearing about the further generosity of other Kiwis.
“I’ve been working seven days a week at the moment,” she said.
The fundraised money would help with ongoing costs as Maddi continued requiring care. She has multiple diagnoses of lung conditions, including chronic asthma, possible primary ciliary dyskinesia, and another lung problem the family are still looking into.
There were regular costs with trips up to Auckland when Maddi went to Starship, and Wilson still had another child to care for.
Maddi Wilson, 9, has a condition which means mild viruses can often land her in hospital.
“We told Maddi [about the donations] this morning when she got up. She’s not a big one on words, but her face was just absolutely shocked. She had her mouth open, eyes wide open, stunned. She had a big smile on her face.”
Wilson said they were “absolutely, eternally grateful to everybody who donated . . . it’s incredibly heartwarming. The situation of the country at the moment, everybody’s struggling but everyone’s done this for us.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
