The 19th annual Corus Radiothon was a huge success, with over $1.4 million coming in for the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
The exact total raised by 6 p.m. on Thursday was $1,438,743.
On Friday, the final total was announced as $1,456,881.
This year’s radiothon was looking to raise funds to purchase five pieces of equipment for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) – one Blanketrol, two neoBLUE blankets and two empath recliners.
LISTEN: The final total is announced live on the 630 CHED Afternoon News
The Blanketrol is a hyper-hypothermia system used to cool babies down after a critical incident at birth.
The neoBLUE blankets are used to replace traditional jaundice treatments that see babies under lamps for several days. The blanket allows the baby to receive treatment via a blue LED from underneath.
The final item is a specially designed recliner. It can tuck right in to the baby’s bedside, allowing doctors and nurses to still move around it, and has features that make it easier to get the baby from the bed into a parent’s arms.
The blankets and recliners will allow parents with children in the NICU to still hold and bond with their babies.
“Babies are meant to be with their parents,” nurse Valerie Levesque said. “Whether they’re born pre-term or term, they’re meant to be snuggled in with their parents, and that’s what we want to promote even if they’re feeling unwell and are in the NICU.”
The phone lines closed at 6 p.m., but donations can still be made at the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation website.
Since 2000, the Corus Radiothon has raised more than $20 million for the foundation.