By the end of Channel 7 Perth’s Telethon last night, the people of Western Australia had dug into their pockets to the tune of $2 867 467. A great effort which will help towards the care of young children at Princess Margaret Hospital as well as providing funding for research into childhood illnesses.
Tayla Divitini is this year’s Telethon Child. Each year a child is chosen to represent the many children who benefit from the generosity of the Western Australian public.
Tomorrow, just after 11:00am, I’ll be chatting to Tayla as part of my morning programme on Sonshine FM.
As the Telethon website explains, She lives with symptoms of osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disorder) and cerebral palsy which affects her leg muscles. For this reason, she has had her legs in splints for as long as she can remember.
From an early age Tayla experienced extreme eating and drinking difficulties and was tube fed until she was seven years old. When she began to eat on her own, she celebrated by holding a ‘button out’ party with friends where she ceremoniously threw out her feeding tube. It is this kind of remarkable strength and sense of humour that has not only seen her win various health battles but in so doing, the hearts of all PMH staff who know her.
Tayla is a vibrant, intelligent 10 year old and I’m looking forward to chatting to her about her big weekend.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Telethon 2004? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
Rodney, our church just had our annual missions conference, and one of the featured couples has a church in Canberra…Randy and Linda Perkins. They were AWESOME. It reinforced my desire to come to Australia someday!