For this toddler, it's a story shared by many inside Ronald McDonald Houses
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Imagine leaving everything behind that you hold near and dear to you. Your family, your home, your job, all to take care of an ill child. It's a story shared by many families inside the Ronald McDonald Houses.
Little Adam Alnuaimi seems content in almost everything he does, even watching change spin around in a coin vortex machine.
He has certainly made himself at home at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden.
His mother, Sura Alfallooji, sums it up best.
"This house is like home sweet home," she said.
Quite a compliment when you learn that their real home is 6,000 miles away in Baghdad, Iraq.
Sura and her husband Layth left behind their family and their careers as pharmacists to seek medical treatment for their son at Shriner's Hospital for Children.
You see Adam was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, AMC for short. It's a variety of conditions involving stiff or frozen joints.
Back home the prognosis was grim.
"He is going to sit on his wheelchair and that's it," Sura said. "That is his life. They can not do anything for him."
Sura knew her son deserved much more.
"I was fighting to do anything for him," Sura said. "To let him stand and walk and live like a normal kid."
For well over a year and a half, the Ronald McDonald Houses have become their home away from home as Adam receives medical care.
Living with other families from around the globe.
"You can know a lot of families, you know a lot of cultures, languages, you're making friends," Sura said. "That's really nice. It's amazing. They are from Puerto Rico, they're from Mexico. Also like there is a family here from Jordan. I'm from Iraq. Everywhere."
Nine surgeries later, Adam is making progress with the use of braces and a walker.
Sura has high hopes for his future.
"My hope is to see him walk without any help," Sura said. "That is my hope."
Adam turns 3 years old on Friday.
Ronald McDonald House Charities Telethon
Thursday is CBS Philadelphia's 14th annual telethon to raise money to help the Ronald McDonald Houses in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware. The telethon begins at 6 a.m. and runs until 8 p.m. on CBS News Philadelphia.
Here's how you can donate.
Text: The word "FAMILY" to 20222 to make a $25 donation (message and data rates may apply)
Online: www.rmhtelethon.org/donate
Venmo: @RMHCPhillyRegion
