On a December evening in 2017, Andrea Schick's life was thrown into chaos. 

The health of her four and a half year-old son, Sebastian, quickly took a turn for the worse. Doctors in Regina didn't know what was wrong and because Saskatchewan didn't have a children's hospital at the time, Andrea and her family were forced to travel to Edmonton so that Sebastian could receive care. 

It was in Edmonton that Andrea and her family relied on the Ronald McDonald House organization to provide the structure and support they desperately needed during Sebastian's time in the hospital.

Sadly, Sebastian's story did not have a happy ending. He passed away and as you'll hear in this episode, the loss will forever stay in Andrea's heart.

What will also stay in her heart is her support of the organization that helped her family through such difficult circumstances.

In this bonus episode of the podcast, Andrea shares her son's story and explains how the Ronald McDonald House supported her and her family when they needed it most. She also explains why she has become involved with the Ronald McDonald House here in Saskatoon and the importance of supporting those families whose stories do have happy endings.

I want to thank Andrea for agreeing to be on the podcast. Andrea lives in Regina (but grew up in Saskatoon and even worked at McDonalds when she was a teenager) and we connected through Zoom. It's not easy to share a story like this in any situation, let alone over Zoom with a podcast host you've never met. So Andrea, thank you for opening up the way that you did, and I know your story is going to leave its mark on so many listeners.

This bonus episode stems from the last episode of the podcast where we took listeners inside the Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon to meet the staff and discover how they have continued to support Saskatchewan families with sick children during the pandemic. The response to this episode has been amazing and it's clear the organization has impacted so many families across the province.Thank you for supporting this episode and don't forget to subscribe for free to YXE Underground on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts. You can also stream all episodes on Spotify or the website. A brand new episode drops May 13th and I think you will love it!Stay safe, keeping washing your hands and thank you for supporting a local, independent podcast.Cheers...Eric 

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis