Mix 101.5 radiothon raises $541,000 for Duke Children's Hospital

The 29th annual Mix 101.5 Radiothon for Duke Children's Hospital on Wednesday raised $541,000 to help patients and families. It's not too late to donate.

The Radiothon for Duke Children’s Hospital ended Wednesday at 7 p.m. Patients, families and staff shared their stories on Mix 101.5 while listeners could visit wralfm.com to make a donation.

The donations go to help families at Duke's Children's to make their holiday season feel a little more normal while they're going through a difficult situation.

After decades of meeting special families overcoming hardship, the radiothon is important to everyone at Mix 101.5, but especially to host Jim Kelly, who never knew his own family would need help from Duke Children's.

"My wife and I, year after year, would give whatever we could to help raise money ... never realizing that one day, personally, we would need Duke Children's," he said.

After a long journey of unsuccessful intrauterine insemination attempts and then in vitro fertilization (IVF), Jim and his wife finally learned they would become parents. But when his wife began to have complications and went into pre-term labor, Jim found himself where he had done so many radiothons in the past.

Olivia and Aiden were born 14 weeks early, each weighing under 2 pounds, and put under the care of the doctors, nurses and specialists at the hospital. It was a challenging time for Jim and his wife, who at one point thought Aiden wouldn't survive.

"It's an incredible place," Jim said of Duke Children's at the annual radiothon one year later.

In addition to his cerebral palsy, Aiden endured over 15 surgeries over the next 13 years. Olivia needed physical therapy but thankfully has spent her life with few health issues.

Today, Olivia and Aiden are teenagers, and Jim said they are happy and well.

You can donate to Duke Children's Hospital online and learn how to be a sponsor of the event.