The Tillman-Byrd Family

Hello, my name is Sonya Tillman and I want to share a little of my story and how The Ronald McDonald House played a huge part in my and my family’s life. I feel that my family and I owe the Ronald McDonald House, a great deal of gratitude for providing us a place to stay while our son underwent treatment in the NICU at Memorial Hospital.

On August 4th, I began having pains, so I went to Statesboro Hospital, not yet knowing how severe my pregnancy complications were. Because of those complications, I was immediately transported by helicopter to Memorial Hospital in Savannah. The following morning, my doctor came in and said I would have to have an emergency C-section. Due to my son’s premature birth, he had to stay in the NICU over three months, until he reached his original due date of November 19th.

Prior to giving birth to my son, I lost my job, my house, and my car. I couldn’t go back and forth to see my son. The cost of staying in hotels was too high and we just didn’t have the money for it. After our son was born, we reached out to the Ronald McDonald House since we knew our son was going to have such a long hospital stay. The staff at the House welcomed us with open arms and were very gracious to me and my family. We were made to feel at home and the staff went above and beyond to make our stay as comfortable as possible. I would love to give a special thanks to Meagan and Bill, who gave me comfort and encouraged me to keep going.