CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Starting on Thursday, it’s your chance to help some very special children.
The annual WEZL and Y102.5 Cares For Kids Radiothon returns to the airwaves.
This marks the 11th year that our radio partners have helped raise money for the patients and programs at the MUSC Children's Hospital.
“I like to draw. I like to paint,"Tymia McCullough said. "I like to just chill and read books cause I love reading.”
And like most 12-year olds, Tymia McCullough of Georgetown also likes playing games on her phone.
But unlike other kids her age, Tymia has sickle cell and often has to spend time in the hospital for treatment.
“It makes me feel weak, and I have very severe pain in certain areas. I have it in my knee and my back,” Tymia said.
Wearing her favorite unicorn bedroom shoes, she hopes that this visit will only last seven or eight days.
But there are times when the hospital stay is much longer.
“Twenty days or more, yes ma’am," Tymia mom Susis McCullough said."It can take a toll. I stay with her because sometimes I am her hands and her feet. Because she’s not able to walk or not able to feed herself.”
When you donate money during the WEZL and Y102.5 Cares For Kids Radiothon, you help kids like Tymia, and so many others.
They depend on the technology, doctors and staff of MUSC Children’s hospital, to help them feel better.
Twenty-six thousand children make a visit to the emergency department of MUSC every year and here’s how your money has helped in the past. The hospital was able to purchase a special ultrasound machine that makes the diagnosis process less invasive and more efficient so the children can get back home sooner.
And as MUSC gets ready to open the Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital next year, it'll be able to care for even more children.
And the money you donate during the radiothon will go a long way.
"And it helps to move our academic and research missions forward so that they can directly deliver results and opportunities for the children of the Lowcountry and South Carolina," neonatologist Dr. Jersey Cahill said.
So if you need to put a face with the cause to prompt you to donate, think about Tymia.
"If you have a little bit of change just donate, cause it actually can save somebody's life."
If you want to help, here's what you need to know.
The WEZL & Y102.5 Cares For Kids Radiothon is Thursday, Dec. 6 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and again on Friday, Dec. 7, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
There are two ways you can donate. You can call 800-478-4090, or you can text either Y1025 or WEZL to 51555 to make a donation.
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