Young philanthropist shows the way
At 11 years old, Oscar Chalmers is already learning about philanthropy. Oscar was inspired by an Australian YouTuber named Lazarbeam to organise a substantial donation of two special game carts to Monash Children’s Hospital. Designed for children to play on while in bed or waiting for a procedure, the USA-made GOKarts will be housed in the same-day ward, Lagoon.
Lagoon cares for more than 500 children each month. The GOKarts will not only be a great distraction but will also help to make coming to Lagoon a positive experience.
Oscar was inspired to give to Monash Children’s Hospital as both his older twin brothers received life-saving care at the hospital. Oscar explained:
“The reason why our family (Chalmers Family Foundation) is donating these GOKarts to Monash Children’s Hospital is because of all the assistance we have received from the teams there over the years.
“My brothers, Zac and Alex, who are twins (now 14 years old), both needed help from the hospital when they were young,” Oscar said.
In Alex’s case, the doctors were concerned that he might not survive the neonatal period due to dramatically reduced lung function, but he pulled through.
“Mum still calls Alex her miracle baby.”
Four years later, the family had to return to Monash Children’s Hospital.
“When Zac was 4 years old, he was found to have a brain tumour which required immediate surgery to be removed. He was booked in for surgery at Monash Children’s Hospital ASAP, and the team there really looked after him. He had to be operated on a few times, but the surgeon managed to remove all the brain tumour,” Oscar said.
“Both my twin brothers are fine these days. We are still very grateful to the whole team at Monash Children’s Hospital for what they have done for our family.”
Monash Health expresses our sincere thanks to Oscar and the Chalmers Family Foundation for their generosity.
Oscar and the Chalmers Family are very keen to raise funds to purchase more GOKarts for other parts Monash Children’s Hospital and other children’s hospitals in Australia. To learn more visit: https://tiltify.com/@chalmers-family-foundation/gaming-karts-for-australian-hospitals
