Within the final 15 minutes of Audacy’s Light Up the Season Radiothon at Children Hospital New Orleans (CHNOLA) on Friday, a man strolled into the front corridor and delivered a check for $15,000.
A CHNOLA patient stood by and eagerly struck the $500+ donation gong 30 times to announce the act of generosity.
With that anonymous gift, Audacy’s three-day radio event reached a total collection of $157,000.
Throughout the week, radio hosts from Audacy’s many stations (WWL, Magic 101.9, Bayou 95.7, and B97) interviewed patients, parents, former patients, staff, and doctors affiliated with the hospital.
The heartfelt conversation was bursting with emotion, as discussion centered on the services provided by the exceptional staff at CHNOLA, who provide critical care for hundreds of thousands of children across Louisiana every year. For example, CHNOLA is the only children’s hospital in the Gulf South that has access to a cure for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and treats more cases of SCD than anywhere in the country.
Since 1955, CHNOLA has continued to expand its services to provide top-notch care and highly specialized services for families in dire need. Most importantly: they never turn away a single patient.
One of those patients was Courtney McMahon. WWL's Newell Normand and Dave Cohen interviewed McMahon on Friday afternoon, who took her baby home from the Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) last week after six weeks at CHNOLA.
McMahon explained it started with a feeling that her baby was moving less, so she checked into the emergency room. Doctors found out that her baby, Miller, had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times and she had to undergo an emergency C-section where Miller was without oxygen for ten minutes. While Courtney stayed in surgical recovery for two days, Miller was flown to Children's Hospital.
He stayed in the NICU for forty-five days where he underwent a cooling protocol to help the organs and brain rest in an attempt to save the healthy tissue.
"His brain recovered beautifully," she said. "It wasn't what we imagined for the first six weeks of our baby's life. But we are beyond grateful to have been here in the hands of the NICU staff."
Now, Miller is home, happy, and recovering.
At the end of the interview, McMahon revealed that she used to be a NICU nurse and how that comforted her to know her child was in the best possible hands.
"Thank you to the NICU team," McMahon said. "They cared for our little one like he was their own. Without them and without their help I don't think he'd be thriving like he is now."
WWL also heard from much of the CHOLA staff. Early Friday morning, Tommy Tucker interviewed CHNOLA’s CEO Lou Fragoso, who explained the importance of events like the Radiothon.
Fragoso stated, “We can’t do what we do without the support of the community…75% percent of the kids we treat have nothing. They have no financial resources. And for almost 70 years we have said yes to every child regardless of their ability to pay.
As the donations rolled in, Fragoso continued, “Twenty-five times a year a child beats cancer and rings that bell. And the only way that’s possible is because we have the support of the community to make sure they have all the resources possible.”
Audacy wants to send its deepest thanks to Jessica Brant with the Ray & Jessica Brant Family Foundation for sponsoring the event, every local business that matched donations, and everyone who called in, texted, or donated online or in person.
It’s your support that allows miracles to happen every day at CHNOLA.
Listen to Newell’s interview this morning with Lou Fragoso as they announce the grand total and talk about how the proceeds will be used to forward CHNOLA’s mission.