Years of Support Comes Full Circle

Giving to the McLeod Children’s Hospital Comes Back to  Personally Benefit a Generous Family

McLeod Health and the Pee Dee community share a common history of service. This relationship has long inspired Luke and Katie Wilcox, faithful supporters of the McLeod Health Foundation, to give back. 

“We believe it is essential to give back to McLeod,” said Luke, “because McLeod gives so much to us here in the Pee Dee.”

The couple has always valued the care McLeod Health provides, and they enjoy participating and giving through the McLeod Foundation. Luke and Katie have participated in McLeod Fellows, and Luke is a member of McLeod Men and serves on the McLeod Children’s Hospital Golf Classic Committee. 

Recently, a room in the  new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was named to honor their dedicated support of the McLeod Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for kids,” Luke explained. “How could you not want to help children in  this community?” 

On New Year’s Eve 2022, Luke and Katie’s generosity to McLeod Children’s Hospital came full circle. That day, they welcomed a healthy baby boy, George, into the world at McLeod Regional  Medical Center.

“The staff was just excellent,” Katie reflected. 

“Everyone from the doctors to the nurses to my lactation consultant was a calming presence that made me feel at ease.”

However, their “textbook” pregnancy and delivery soon turned frightening. At 3:00 a.m. on January 1, a nurse woke Katie. She informed her that George had been transferred from the newborn nursery to the NICU because he was spitting up and turning blue.

After four days, George recovered without serious intervention. Though this was initially a harrowing experience, George was home with his grateful family on January 6.

George’s experience proves how interconnected McLeod is with Foundation donors and the communities it serves. In 2021, Luke had participated in the McLeod Children’s Hospital Golf Classic, which helped fund the lifesaving equipment that his son would eventually require. The same services the Wilcoxes’ generosity had made possible for other families at McLeod were now available for them.

“Never did we think we would need a NICU stay,” Katie remembers. “But if we could not have George at home with us, McLeod was the best place for him.”