At just three years old, Valentina Melo has fought a battle that no child should have to face. She was diagnosed with kidney cancer at the tender age of 18 months. “The world comes crashing down on you, and you think that this is going to take a toll on everybody, and it does,” says her father, Adolfo Melo. The journey brought the family to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where Melo says a genetic mutation was identified as the cause of the diagnosis. They learned that both Valentina’s kidneys would ultimately be at risk. She would need a transplant. “They operated [on] me,” the father said. “The operation was side by side. It’s a very big operation, but as the days go by, we feel better and better. We are actually getting happier and happier.” Thanks to a kidney from dad and the hospital’s team, Valentina now has a second chance. The Melos are one of many families that have benefited from aid from the Children’s Hospital over the years. Dr. Lucie Opatrny, CEO of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), says funds raised through the annual Caring for Kids Radiothon have a lot to do with patient success. “The donations allow us to go from ordinary to extraordinary care. It’s allowed us to recruit world class experts in, for example, interventional cardiology and childhood diseases, or scientists that lead us to world class discoveries in genetics,” Opatrny said. The Caring for Kids Radiothon has raised more than $33.5 million over the last 23 years. The grand total raised this year was $1,425,921. With each phone call comes another contribution to the hospital’s healthy kids fund. “The people answering the phones enjoy it just as much as the people who are giving,” longtime volunteer Eric Birenbaum said. The same goes for the radio teams, including CJAD 800 host Aaron Rand. “To see all the volunteers who come out here year after year and to hear the stories, and realize what incredible work is done here at the Children’s beyond just, you know, treating people - the research, the science, the fact that we are blessed to have a world class institution in this city, is remarkable,” Rand said.
