TODAY Heath Ogden is fighting fit and one day hopes to play for the Essendon Bombers, but memories of his time at the Royal Children’s Hospital nearly four years ago still provoke strong emotions for his mum, Katrina.

Heath, 4, was just a baby when he contracted pneumonia and was rushed down to the hospital for surgery and treatment.

Their experiences prompted Mrs Ogden and husband Billy to donate the proceeds of the sale of lambs in the lead-up to Good Friday each year to the hospital.

Then the daughter of their good friends Simon and Caylee Perry, Lori, was diagnosed with cancer and treated there; happily, the five-year-old was recently given the all-clear.

“It’s amazing what they do; the hospital is unbelievable,” Mr Ogden said.

Mrs Ogden agreed, describing the staff as “fantastic”.

“They bend over backwards for you… I couldn’t fault them,” she said.

Mrs Ogden said she hoped the family would never have to return to the hospital, but knew she’d be in good hands if she did.

Similar experiences with the hospital prompted Danielle Roberts and a group of friends to organise a Good Friday fundraising night.

Mrs Roberts’ eight-year-old son Kaden was an inpatient and an outpatient at the hospital as a baby for problems with his heart, eyes and a hernia, and she said she was “forever grateful” for the hospital.

She said its “amazing” staff were a “different breed of people” for their approach to their work.

Her friend Sally Betts’ son Dylan is still a patient of the hospital and has been for more than nine years, since the age of 18 months.

Dylan was initially treated for eye and vision issues, then in 2015 was diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and last year came down with a kidney problem.

“Although Dylan’s conditions are not life-threatening, it has been very stressful and worrying and chaotic at times… I am so grateful and thankful that we have access to such an amazing hospital with amazing staff,” Miss Betts said.