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Friday, 02 November 2012
Shane McKee, Deputy Manager at Kidzone@the Den, Bolton School's
Out of School and Holiday Club, has won the Parent of the Year
Award at the Tower FM Local Hero Awards Ceremony held at the
Holiday Inn in Bolton on 18 October.
Shane, aged 25, was nominated by his wife and family for his
incredible efforts every evening as a parent when he gets home from
work. After a hard day at work, Shane takes over the night
shift, which involves looking after his 9 month old boy, Riley, who
suffers from Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, also known as GORD
or GERD, and the related illness, Sandifers Syndrome. One of
the symptoms is regurgitation and vomiting and, despite being on
medication, Riley is regularly sick and is often in great pain, he
is also prone to fits and stopping breathing. Shane watches
Riley every night and has only had 2 nights' uninterrupted sleep in
the last 9 months.
Shane picks up the story: "One of the reasons my wife nominated
me was so that we could raise awareness about GORD - up to one in
five children will suffer from this but it is commonly
misdiagnosed."
When asked what qualities made a good parent, Shane replied:
"Making sure you do the best by your child and that you fight their
corner. I've certainly had to show patience and perseverance and
you should never let your child see if you are tired or exasperated
with everything. It is important that you do not stop getting on
with all the other things in life. Clearly, going to work is
something I have to get on with and large doses of caffeine have
kept me going. Also, we have a 3 year old daughter, Kallea,
who still demands and deserves all the attention that we gave to
her before Riley came along. I was very proud to win the
Parent of the Year Award but the best reward ever would be for
Riley to get better."
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