Poppy’s a class act graduating from Ronald McDonald Learning Program
Most young children would find any excuse to stay home from school but for nine-year-old Poppy Whiting, going to school is all she’s ever wanted.
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MOST young children would find any excuse to stay home from school but for nine-year-old Poppy Whiting, going to school is all she’s ever wanted.
Poppy has suffered debilitating side effects and long stints in hospital since the age of five after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
The hereditary auto-immune disease is incurable and can be fatal if untreated as damaged pancreas cells produce little or no insulin, which is vital for converting glucose to energy.
Poppy’s mum Hollea Whiting said it had been a constant juggle to manage her daughter’s health.
“High sugar levels does encourage infections and makes her susceptible to other coughs and colds and often means she becomes sicker than kids normally would, even down to just a vomiting bug means we end up in hospital,” she said.
“It’s been really difficult in that she’s got a lot of responsibility for a little person, she can’t do everything that other kids can do and often feels excluded.”
For Poppy, the hardest part of her illness hasn’t been the need to carry her insulin kit everywhere or have medication every few hours, it has been the emotional burden of missing out on time with friends.
“It’s been pretty troubling and early on I spent lots of time in hospital which was scary,” Poppy said.
“I didn’t get to see my friends and when I was in hospital my friends grew distant because they were at school and I wasn’t.”
That all changed in September when Poppy graduated from Ronald McDonald Learning Program, which partners sick children with their own tutor.
Poppy has been attending the program since Year 1 when it was first noticed she wasn’t meeting education standards due to time off.
“It was heartbreaking watching her not meet her milestones because she knew she wouldn’t pass a test and it really bothered her,” Ms Whiting said.
“Poppy managed to improve to the point where she’s in mainstream schooling now and that’s exactly what we want for her … to be on par with her peers.
“All of the guys from the Ronald McDonald House organised a little graduation for her and it was so special.”
Originally published as Poppy’s a class act graduating from Ronald McDonald Learning Program