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FOR Jontee Brown and his family, this year's Good Friday Appeal has a new meaning.
Two months ago, the Bendigo teenager was on a school camp in the Philippines when he fell down a sink hole. He suffered cuts but thought nothing of it.
On arrival home, Jontee saw a doctor and got the wound treated. It wasn't until a few weeks later that his joints became inflamed.
"I thought I had done a ligament and thought, "it'll be right, I'll get it checked"," the 17-year-old said.
Jontee spent two weeks in hospital in Bendigo. He lost movement in his body and had problems with his breathing.
On February 28, Jontee was transferred to the Royal Children's Hospital where doctors performed a series of tests, before diagnosing the teenager with reactive arthritis.
The condition causes swelling in the joints and affected the entire left side and right leg of Jontee's body.
Since the trip overseas, Jontee has had three surgeries and spent five weeks in hospital.
He is urging people to donate to the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal today.
Jontee said the care and professionalism shown by the staff at the hospital was overwhelming.
"They have every team possible. I would have teachers who would come in and do work with me," he said.
"They have a Starlight program five nights that you would go and talk to other patients and play Xbox to give you that bit of normality.
"There was this one nurse and there was a mother staying there and she hadn't had a break. So the nurse stayed two hours after she was meant to go home so the mother could go and have a break.
"They are amazing. You always see it on TV but you don't realise how much goes on. They make it so much like home. I didn't mind staying there. If you had to pick a hospital you'd pick that one."
Katie Brown, Jontee's mother, said the hospital was a special place.
"It's mind blowing. If I lived in Melbourne I would become a volunteer. What they do at that hospital is just incredible. What you see compared to being there and experiencing it, it's just different. The atmosphere, how friendly they are, they go beyond. It's not about Jontee, they bring me into everything as well," she said.
Jontee is now on the road to recovery but still has a long way to go. His school, Catholic College Bendigo, is accommodating his rehabilitation.
While he stills gets around with a wheelchair, Jontee is confident he will walk again.
"Being home has been great," Jontee said.
"I have come a long way and still have a long way to go but I am going well."
