Corus Radiothon raises record-breaking $206k for London Children’s Hospital

It was another record-breaking year for the Corus Radiothon.

This year’s edition of the campaign raised $206,787 in support of Children’s Hospital, just over $30,000 more than last year’s total.

The final tally was unveiled late Friday afternoon in the atrium of London Health Sciences Centre, where 980 CFPL, FM96, Country 104 and 103.1 Fresh Radio had been broadcasting live since 6 a.m.

The partnership between Corus Radio London and the Children’s Health Foundation reeled in nearly $175,000 in donations at last year’s radiothon — a record-setting amount for the event.

While London is in its name, the work done by London Children’s Hospital stretches far beyond the Forest City.

Each year, the hospital receives more than 122,000 patient visits, more than half of which are from people outside of London.

Among those visiting are Addison and Aubrey Norton, five-year-old twins whose premature births resulted in them spending months in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

The thankful twins are now looking to give back, and with the help of their mother Mandy, they’ve already raised hundreds for London Children’s Hospital.

“We’re really lucky to have the hospital in our city and we want to support in any way we can,” Mandy said.

“So the babies can go home,” said the twins when asked why they want to give back. “All of the babies.”

It’s a tough thing for a family to have one sick child, let alone two.

Having both battled life-threatening illnesses, sister and brother Anna and Jacob Coates know how vital the hospital is to the community.

In 2018, Anna survived a blood clot and her brother just finished a battle with stage two thyroid cancer.

“I had about ten minutes between life and death,” Anna said.

“All of the doctors, the hematologist, and neurologist team saw me frequently, and I also had a lot of support from the nurses.”

It’s been a long road of recovery for Anna, having suffered two brain bleeds following the blood clot and dealing with PTSD. Still, Anna says after their experiences, they wanted to encourage others to support the hospital as a way of saying thank you.

The siblings have launch their own fundraiser to raise funds for the Children Hematology Ward the Children Cancer Ward.

How to donate

There are plenty of ways to donate to the Corus Radiothon.

Donations can be made over the phone by calling 1-844-550-KIDS (5437) toll-free. From there, callers will have the option to make a one-time donation or to sign up to become a monthly donor for as little as $10 a month.

Cellphone users can text CHILD to 41010 to donate $10 or $25 to Children’s Health Foundation.

Donations can be sent online to childhealth.ca/radiothon.

Folks are also free to make donations in person by visiting London Children’s Hospital on Commissioners Road East.

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Corus Radio and Global News are both properties of Corus Entertainment.