For most parents, a child is a dream come true, the answer to a prayer repeated over nine months of anxious, hopeful pregnancy. Parents and family talk about the baby on the way, wondering if she will have her mother’s dark eyes or her father’s curly hair, her grandmother’s compassion or her grandpa’s sense of humor. Sometimes, when the baby is born, or maybe after a few years go by, the parents discover that there was something that they never considered when they dreamed about their baby and the future – that through illness or injury, their sweet child has health problems that need to be addressed.

When a child is critically ill or injured, parents may feel shocked, scared and anxious about their child and the future. Their minds fill with questions: What does my child need? Where can he get it? How will we manage? Will she be all right? What should we do? Where should we go?