Creating a Home away from Home,

On the 22nd November 2017, Kim’s waters broke. This is an exciting/scary feeling for most women. But for Kim and partner Tom it was completely terrifying as Kim was only 27weeks pregnant with her first baby. (40 weeks is full term) Kim arrived at Greymouth Hospital to find she would be flown to Dunedin Hospital as Christchurch NICU (neonatal intensive care Unit) didn’t have room for such a premature baby. Dunedin is 550kms away and at least an 8 hour drive. So on Wednesday evening the medivac team arrived and flew a very scared Kim to Dunedin hospital. There was no room in the plane for Tom so he came home and slept a few hours and then made the very long drive to Kim in Dunedin, where they are constantly monitoring both Kim and the baby, Kim is on strict bed rest and is being given antibiotics and steroids to help the baby fight infection and develop her lungs. At the moment baby is happy and healthy inside but this could very quickly change.

As those of us who know Kim and Tom know that they don’t like to ask for Help.Tom would like to stay in Dunedin by Kims side supporting her and be there for the arrival of their first child. This means that neither Kim or Tom are currently working. This is where the financial pressure of being away from home kicks in. Tom is currently living in a motel close to the hospital. Because of the Distance between Hokitika and Dunedin its to far for him to come home as he wouldn’t be able to be by Kims side quick enough if anything was to happen. Kim and Tom have also just started building their first home so this is an added cost that they now have a mortgage to worry about. The funds from this page will be used to cover basic living expenses and the Mortgage while Tom and Kim aren’t working and are away from home.

At this stage the Baby is happy and Healthy but being very closely monitored as this can change very quickly. Although we cannot take away the Challenges Kim and Tom are facing at the moment it would be nice if we can help with the financial Challenges of the next few months while Kim and Tom are so far away from home. Especially so Tom can stay and support his girls for as long as possible.

Thank you