Check out Christmas lights for a cause

The Saccasan family’s Deception Bay Christmas lights display is a festive favourite, while also raising money for a worthy cause and honouring the memory of someone special.

Michael and Vanessa Saccasan have been decorating their home at Cockatiel Court, Deception Bay, for more than a decade, delighting local families and raising money for the RBWH Foundation in memory of their baby boy, Thomas.

Thomas and his twin brother Nicholas were born at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) in 2010 at 29 weeks. Thomas weighed just 439 grams and Nicholas 1327 grams.

“With all the treatment and care Thomas was given at RBWH, he made it to six months and one day, and for that we will be forever grateful,” Vanessa says.

“Thomas had never made it home with us, so we did it (Christmas lights) for him ... for all the babies like him, and for the kids and families we make smile.”

Donations made in person or through the family’s online fundraising page support patient care innovation and life-saving research through the RBWH Foundation.

“We started raising money in his memory. It started off small, but every year we raised more and more. Then our kids got a bit bigger, and they got involved,” Vanessa says.

“Now it’s something we can’t stop – something that isn’t just about us but about the children that love to come to us, about the parents who come with their premmie babies, and those premmie babies as they grow into big kids. All the people that we can make feel happy and that, hopefully, our fundraising can help.”

Thomas and Nicholas experienced twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a condition in which the blood flows unequally between babies who share a placenta.

“We discovered at 12 weeks that it was a high-risk pregnancy, because the boys were identical twins sharing the same placenta and amniotic sac,” said mum, Vanessa. “From that point we were on a regime of fortnightly and, later, weekly scans.”

As the pregnancy progressed, it became apparent Thomas and Nicholas were experiencing twin-twin transfusion syndrome and in a bid prevent the loss of one or both of the babies, Vanessa had laser surgery at 18 weeks’ gestation.

“The procedure was fairly uncommon, certainly at that time, so we had midwives wanting to come in and watch. Then, at our regular appointment at 29 weeks, my blood pressure was up, sending the message that these boys were ready to come. Two days later they were born,” Vanessa recalls.

“The nurses and the doctors do an amazing job, right around the clock. They become like family. And if it wasn’t for their hard work and gentle care, we would never have had those precious months with Thomas; we might not have had Nicholas safe and well with us today either. We feel very blessed by that, because we know that a lot of people never get to take their babies home.”

Labour of love

Christmas preparations in the Saccasan household begin as far back as October, with Michael using weeks of his annual leave to tackle the project and their children Joseph, Nicholas and ‘rainbow baby’ Stella - the term given to describe a healthy baby born after loss - roped in to help.

“It becomes almost like a full-time job,” Michael says.

“Each year it’s getting bigger so, obviously, each year it’s taking longer. But we never get tired of it – every year we sit outside and look at it and wonder what we’d do differently next time; what are the kids’ favourites and what could we do that stands out?”

Check out the display at 26 Cockatiel Crt, Deception Bay, from 6.30-10pm, any night up to and including Christmas Eve.

Visit rbwhfoundation.com.au/fundraisers/MichaelSaccasan