A MUM who spent 1,642 nights with her poorly son in Ronald McDonald House has opened a fundraising shop so the cause can continue to help other families.
Lynette Mathieson has opened The Key Group Pop Up Shop, next to Poundland on Sankey Street, with profits going to the charity in Liverpool.
The 48-year-old says she is keen to do something to support the special caring home, located in the grounds of Alder Hey Children's Hospital, as a thank you to the many people who supported her family when her youngest son Cameron was being treated.
The bubbly Great Sankey youngster was the only patient in the world with both cystic fibrosis and Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy in the genetic combination he had and spent more than half of his life in Alder Hey before his sad death in October 2012 aged five.
Cameron's family hit the headlines earlier this year after dad Craig successfully challenged the Government over an archaic rule which sees Disability Living Allowance (DLA) cut when children spend more than 84 days in hospital.
But the family are now keen to focus their attention on the charity that supported them with Cameron's siblings among the shop's volunteers.
Lynette, who is also proud mum to Georgia, aged 19, Ben, aged 18 and 10-year-old Guy, added: "The biggest problem we have on the fundraising committee for Ronald McDonald House (RMH) is people think we're the same charity as Alder Hey.
"Eighty per cent of fundraising is done by families which is why we also want to raise awareness here in Warrington.
"When Cameron was first admitted and they told me I could stay in RMH, I told the staff I didn't want a cheeseburger because I had no idea what it was."
It is hoped the store, which currently sells Christmas decorations and presents while playing moving videos of families who have been staying in RMH for as many as five or nine years, will raise the £30,000 needed to revamp the home's day room.
Lynette, consultant at The Key Group, added: "At the moment it looks like a waiting room but we're hoping to transform it for families who visit at weekends.
"The charity gave us the chance to be a normal family while Cameron was in Alder Hey and have Sunday lunches and birthdays together.
"It was a lifeline.
"We get lots of families coming into the shop saying they used RHM for two or three weeks.
"I don't tell them the ending of Cameron's story because his life is not about the fact he died, his legacy is the fact he lived and how he lived."
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