Good Friday Appeal hits home

After raising money for the Good Friday Appeal for over a decade, this Wendouree firefighter has seen his fundraising dollars at work.

Ryan Patrikeos has been raising money for the Good Friday Appeal for 11 years through the Wendouree CFA, but it wasn’t until recently that he saw his fundraising money in action.

At just six-weeks old, Ryan’s daughter Sophia became unwell, and after seeing a local doctor, was referred immediately to The Royal Children’s Hospital.

“She was not being herself, vomiting a dark coloured liquid every time after we gave her a bottle,” Ryan, who was part of a CFA strike team that fought the recent Bayindeen bushfire, said.

“We got an ultrasound on her stomach, and three days after that appointment, we got a phone call from the doctor saying we needed to get down to RCH as soon as we could.”

Sophia was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, an uncommon condition in infants in which a bit of muscle thickens and restricts around the small intestine, blocking all food from passing through.

Ryan Patrikeos at Wendouree CFA with his partner Maddie Wilson and daughter Sophia. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Facing extreme dehydration, Sophia was put on a drip to get fluid back into her body, had a nasal tube put in to drain the contents of her stomach, and then had a keyhole surgery to cut the muscle that was restricting the small intestine to allow the contents of her stomach to move normally.

Ryan said the RCH staff “treated us with such respect and were so caring”, and kept them informed and up-to-date with everything that was going on.

“I know that there’s a lot of other very unwell children but they treated us like we were their first priority,” he said.

“This is why I go and collect money for the Good Friday Appeal, so we can keep putting money into that hospital.”

Ryan said Sophia is recovering well. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Ryan said Sophia is recovering well.

“She’s like a changed child … we’ve seen her back smiling and laughing, putting on weight again and everything’s pointing in the right direction.”

In 2024 the Good Friday Appeal will now take the RCH excellence into the regions, allocating money to six regional Victorian centres, with Barwon Health, Grampians Health, Bendigo Health, Goulburn Valley Health, Albury Wodonga Health and Latrobe Regional Health all to receive funding.