Will's Story  

Renmark mum, Belinda Morrison, went camping with her husband Tim, son Liam (11) and twins Brodie and Will (3) on the Anzac Day weekend in 2021. The holiday took a dramatic turn when Will tripped and fell hands first into a smouldering campfire pit.

“From that moment in time, everything was a blur for the next 24 to 48 hours,” Belinda says.

“We were lucky we weren’t too far out of town and the ambulance got to us quickly. Doctors were waiting at our local emergency department for us and then we were on a plane to Adelaide. We arrived at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH) late at night, with a plastic surgeon waiting for us.”

Will had surgery the next morning to clean up his hands and remove the dead skin.

"No words can express how grateful we are."

Since then, Will has been coming back to the WCH for the burns and scar clinics and will continue to have more operations and procedures until he is fully grown.

Belinda says, “The work that the Burns Service does is beyond incredible. What was an extremely scary time for us was made easier by the care and compassion we received. Linda Quinn and the entire Burns Service team have been beyond amazing. No words can express how grateful we are.”

“Will has had a lot of surgeries and we are frequently going to Day Of Surgery Admissions at the WCH. Will instantly took a liking to Mary, the Play Therapist there. Seeing her big smiling face as we walked in made a huge difference to Will. He loved chatting to her and telling her all about his Monkey and Snappy. She was always finding things for him to do to keep him occupied.”  

Belinda says Play Therapy is so important to both children and families. 

“It helps reduce anxiety for the patients. It's a great distraction from the reason they are in hospital and it helps with their overall recovery.”  

“Will was so sick and in so much pain when we first arrived after the accident. The Hospital was very overwhelming for him but the Play Therapist brought him toys to play with when he was well enough. His favourite was playing with the pretend cooking stuff (which they had to help him with because he couldn't use his hands).”

“He just loved engaging with the Play Therapists, whether it was talking or playing, he didn't care.”

“Just seeing Will smiling and having fun after such a traumatic event meant everything to me and it was all thanks to the amazing work everyone does.”

By partipating in Challenge 21, you are helping to ease the stress and anxiety of being in hospital.