5-Year-Old Boy Born With Rare Form Of Dwarfism, Family Thankful For Help Of Delaware Ronald McDonald House
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) -- In light of current events, our annual CBS3 Ronald McDonald House Charities Telethon, scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed. However, our local Ronald McDonald Houses remain open and the need to help families with seriously ill children is greater than ever.
Every day is a challenge for these families, so please consider donating today to help the houses continue to provide stability, a comfortable bed, nourishing meals and transportation to area hospitals.
This included Aman Tangudu and his family, who were staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Wilmington, Delaware in February when our Ukee Washington stopped by to say hello.
Aman is a chatty little guy. It's hard to believe he's only been talking for nine months.
He is 5 years old and was born with an extremely rare form of dwarfism and because he had to wear a tracheal tube, he learned sign language at a very early age.
"How much joy does he bring you?" CBS3's Ukee Washington asked Aman's parents.
"A lot. It's infinite, he's changed our world," Aman's father Jagadeesh Tangudu said.
The Tangudu family lives in Connecticut and travels to Delaware so Aman can see specialists at Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.
When they are in Wilmington, they stay right across the street from the hospital at the Ronald McDonald House.
"It takes out one piece of the stress element. Where do we stay, how do we eat, how do we get his medication?" Jagadeesh Tangudu said.
"They have such nice rooms, kitchen here, it's easy for me to make his special food for him instead of staying outside and all of the equipment they have in here," Aman's mother, Sowmya Jammula, said.
"Visiting hospitals is almost a trauma for him because when you see doctors, when you see needles, injections and all of this stuff, and then coming out of all that immediately, if you can get to the house and get him a warm feeling he can finally get out of that and get into the library, books, playroom,
it's like their home away from home," Jagadeesh Tangudu said.
"This is our home in Delaware," Aman said.
Aman wanted to show off his home away from home so he showed us to the playroom to see Thomas the Tank Engine and his engine friends. Then after a busy morning with his train buddies, Aman was tuckered out.
It was time to rest but this family feels safe and secure in the house that love built.
To see a list of donation methods, click here.
On behalf of the local Ronald McDonald Houses, thank you and we look forward to announcing the new date for our 2020 telethon.
