14th Annual Maddy's Gala

Join us on February 2, 2023

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Ticket Quantity Left Price Each
Early Bird Available $175.00
Regular Tickets Available $200.00
Table (for 10 people) Available $2,000.00
Presenting Sponsor Available $15,000.00
Platinum Sponsor Available $10,000.00
Gold Sponsor Available $7,500.00
Silver Sponsor Available $5,000.00
Bronze Sponsor Available $2,500.00
Nickel Sponsor Available $1,000.00
Angel Sponsor Available $500.00

14th Annual Maddy’s Gala

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Time: 6 pm

NEW Location: Infinity Convention Centre - 2901 Gibford Dr, Ottawa, ON

Theme: 80’s Night Gala – Dress to Impress

Join us for the 14th Annual Maddy’s Gala in support of Roger Neilson House.

A simple idea over a glass of wine - a gala in Maddy’s honour. There was a small and intimate evening on February 1, 2008, that raised almost $10,000. Feeling rejuvenated, we decided this should be an annual event. So, Maddy’s Gala was born, and it continues year after year to exceed the success of the previous year!

Our Angel Maddy gave us wings and we are using them to soar.

Our Story
Sunday, July 15, 2007, was a beautiful sunny day at the lake where we were building our family cottage. Maddy went for a nap and when she woke up her speech was slightly slurred and physically there was something about her that we could not put our finger on. We made the decision to take her to CHEO. What we would learn later was that she had a seizure during her nap.

On the drive back to Ottawa, Maddy’s condition worsened. Soon after our arrival at CHEO, we had just been admitted, Maddy started to seize again. The staff rushed her to the trauma unit where they put her in an induced coma to run tests.

We were helpless – what was happening to our little Maddy? The results of a CT scan, followed by an MRI, brought our world to an abrupt halt – our beautiful 5 year old had a tumor on her brainstem. It was inoperable and terminal.

Our lives changed forever in that moment. How could this be possible? Had they made a mistake? We were forced into decisions that no parent should ever have to make. Would we like to donate Maddy’s organs? Do we want to put her on life support? Would we like to take her to Roger Neilson House? We had no idea what Roger Neilson House was.

We took the short walk from CHEO to view Roger Neilson House. Instantly, the warmth of this facility and its incredible staff were a comfort to us, and we knew this is where Maddy would spend the rest of her short life. Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, while the rest of the world continued as normal, we walked with Maddy in our surreal world along with our family and friends through the park, to Roger Neilson House. We settled in quickly thanks to the caring staff. All we had to do was focus on our little girl. We reassured her it was okay to let go of this world.

Roger Neilson House supported us through this horrific ordeal and they still do to this day. The bereavement counselling and group therapy was instrumental to us surviving the first stages of what we refer to as “our new life.” We are now a part of a very different family. Our darkest days were to come, but we had a safe and special place where we could go, and this was vital to our survival.

We wanted to dedicate part of “our new life” to Roger Neilson House. It was six short weeks after Maddy passed away that “Maddy’s Superheroes” was born! We were the largest team at that time to register for the Roger Neilson House Walk, Roll & Run event and we raised close to $26,000 in honour of our Maddy! This achievement made us feel like we had a purpose again and we could do more.

 

THE OTTO FAMILY MISSION

"To keep Maddy's spirit alive, we raise funds for Roger Neilson House in her honour. It helps us to know that other families who require palliative care can access the same resources we did."

To date, the Otto family has raised over 1 MILLION for Roger Neilson House, in Maddy's honour.

Thank you for everyone’s continued support and we can’t wait to see you all back on Saturday, April 29, 2023, for the 14th Annual Maddy’s Gala.






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