To most people, this place is the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Delaware. For Madi Schiro it is ‘Donald’s House’.
“I sometimes feel like she runs the house when we’re here,” Anna Schiro, Madi’s mother, said with a laugh.
The 4-year-old big sister knows where almost everything is in the house. Her favorite places are the playroom, the multi-sensory room and the playground.
The Nevada family calls the Wilmington home every three months, sometimes more often.
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“She has a rare form of skeletal dysplasia called Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia with joint laxity type I,” said Anna Schiro. “Here specifically gene b3 galt 6. There are only 41 known people in the entire world who have ever been diagnosed with her gene.”
Madi’s team of doctors is across the street from Nemours Children’s Hospital, where she is being treated.
For Anna, the Ronald McDonald House is a burden that has fallen from her shoulders. “It’s something we don’t have to worry about,” she said.
The Wilmington home allows the family to make every cross-country trip a little easier.
“Everything we do is to give her a better life and make things easier for her,” said Tony Schiro, Madi’s father.
Tony keeps Madi close even when he’s on the front lines as a firefighter, with a tattoo on his left bicep.
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“I have Madison here, which gives me strength,” he said. “It is also close to my heart.”
A permanent but subtle reminder of his daughter’s fight.
“Every day of the struggle that my daughter goes through and it makes me and my wife stronger every day as well,” Tony Schiro said. “She taught us a lot.”
Madi loves Donald’s House and her parents are grateful that it has become part of their journey.
“This house means more to us than we could ever explain,” Anna said. “The amount of gratitude we can give to everyone who helps keep the lights on in this house is just not enough for me to give.”
Be part of the village that helps make Ronald McDonald House Charities a home away from home. And don’t forget to tune in telethon on CBS Philadelphia on November 21.
Visit to learn more and donate now RMHC.org.
Nikki DeMentri
