Dahlia Guttman and Michael Hollander love to speak about their daughter, Ronnie Joy Hollander, in the past and present.
In September, she’d be turning five, and Wednesday would have been her first day of kindergarten.
In January of 2020, at 27 months old, Ronnie died suddenly.
Her death changed the lives of her parents and her older siblings who are now 10 and seven.
“I still had a daycare daughter, Lielle, who was four at the time, and I went upstairs quickly to get dressed, nothing fancy, to bring her to daycare. I left Ronnie in front of the TV like I did every morning, my babysitter wasn’t here yet. And when I came back she wasn’t responding anymore, she looked like she was sleeping,” she said. “I was confused.”
READ MORE: A parent’s worst nightmare – SUDC, cousin of SIDS, claiming lives of children
The two-year-old’s death fell into the category of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC).
It is defined as the sudden death of a child age one or older that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation.
Dr. Laurie Plotnick, medical director of the emergency department at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, says cases of SUDC are rare, and there is little known about it.
“When it comes to SUDC, I think there’s a lot more to learn, a lot more awareness to be had,” said Plotnick. “This is a entity or a classification that is still not well known among the medical personnel.”
Since Ronnie’s death, her parents have created Ronnie’s Joy Foundation.
The charity raises money to help sick children, support bereaved families and raise awareness and support for medical research for SUDC.
One resource that has been helpful for them has been U.S. based SUDC foundation. Its mission is to promote awareness, advocate for research and support families affected by unexpected and unexplained deaths in childhood.
President and co-founder, Laura Gould is also a research scientist that studies these tragic deaths.
“These children have not been given their chance with research,” said Gould. “We have not funded this research appropriately. And I think we can learn so much more if we actually provide adequate funding to be able to research these children.”
Guttman and Hollander became a family of five again last year – little Levana celebrated her first birthday in June.
They say they know their three children will all do wonderful things in life, and that their foundation is a way to show Ronnie will too.