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MEET THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
Every year, 170 local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals identify a “Champion” in each of their local communities to serve as the face for children treated at their local children's hospital. These ambassadors spend their year advocating for the charitable need of children's hospitals across North America.
Sixty-two children enter a Children's Miracle Network Hospital for treatment every minute. Whether they suffer from common childhood afflictions like asthma and broken bones, or fight bigger challenges like birth defects or cancer, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals provide comfort, treatment and hope to millions of sick kids. In fact, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals treat one in 10 children in North America each year.
IZABELLA NEIRA
UF Health Shands Children's Hospital
As a premature baby in the neonatal intensive care unit, along with her twin sister Jesubelle, Izabella wasn’t showing signs of progress. She eventually became one of the youngest patients ever to receive a heart-lung transplant. Her family slept by her side for days after her surgery, on one of the many pullout couches, funded by donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Funds from CMN Hospitals also provide the most advanced medical technology and treatment available, ensuring that Izabella receives the best care possible from 11 specialists at the hospital. Recently, the pediatric department also received new tools to visualize airways in kids like Izabella because of funds from CMN Hospitals.
Izabella will need continued monitoring, but she’s full of spunk and vigor and continues to defy the odds. She calls her transplant doctor “my hero.”
SAMERYA MONTGOMERY
Children's National Health System
After a long journey trying to find a diagnosis for Samerya’s illness, Children’s National discovered that Samerya had a disease of the kidneys that prevented her body from breaking down proteins and
caused scarring on her kidneys and her body to swell.
At 4 years old, Samerya had her kidneys removed through her belly button. After 11 months on dialysis, Samerya received a kidney transplant. The transplant itself was a success. Unfortunately, her
syndrome returned and is affecting her new kidney.
Samerya will remain on anti-rejection medicine as her talented caregivers figure out the next steps. For now, her disease is in remission, and Samerya maintains a positive outlook on life. She loves the Food Network and anything to do with princesses. When she grows up, she wants to be a nurse and help kids
in the hospital like her.
ELI & SHANE WILLIAMS
Maria Fareri Children's Hospital
When brothers Eli and Shane were ejected from the off-road vehicle they were riding in, after it hit a neighbor’s mailbox, they flew nearly 35 feet. Both brothers suffered third-degree burns, and Shane had a broken nose and orbital fractures, as well.
At Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, 100 percent of donations through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals support services including the care of children undergoing open-heart surgery, brain surgery and the trauma and burn care that Eli and Shane received while they were in the hospital.
Surgeries, skin grafts and stitches helped the boys heal physically, and their strong attachment to one another helped them, too. Shane says he’d always wanted a baby sister but is now eternally grateful for the love and companionship he shares with Eli.
Both boys have challenges to overcome, but they’re making strides every single day.
LOGAN KELM
Gundersen Health System
With Logan’s condition, symptoms can vary depending on the individual. That makes him truly one-of-a-kind, but also means his journey will be tough to navigate. The future is unknown and
there is currently no cure for his disease.
Logan continually faces numerous risks associated with his condition including respiratory illnesses, scoliosis, seizures and contractures of the joints. He visits specialists at multiple Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to ensure he receives the best care. Donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals programs have helped Logan and his family with transportation costs to travel to and from the hospital.
This determined and focused 9-year-old, loves Star Wars, the Avengers, Pokemon and making
people laugh. When he talks about the future, he explains that someday he’d like to be an inventor. Regarding his condition, he says, “I just roll with it.”
KAYLEE MIKULSKY
Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego
It was a big diagnosis for such a little person. Kaylee was just three when her family found out she had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, which can progress incredibly quickly if not treated right away.
Thankfully Kaylee received excellent medical care and completed her chemotherapy in March 2018. She now visits her children’s hospital for monthly checkups. Thanks to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals funds, which support life-saving technology and research, Kaylee’s long-term prognosis is excellent.
This lively 5-year-old, who is now in kindergarten, loves gymnastics and school.
CIARLO LIPLES
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Despite being born with a severe form of Spina Bifida, having surgery at just 21 hours and a shunt placed in his brain at two weeks, Ciarlo – who is paralyzed from the waist down – has a personality that brightens every room. In fact, he’s been nicknamed “The Mayor” because of his outgoing, cheerful demeanor.
It’s an outlook that means everything for a family that’s dealt with so much. In 2016, Ciarlo’s older brother, Dominic, lost his battle to brain cancer. Since Dominic’s death, the Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) has provided emotional, social and spiritual support to help the family work through their grief. Ciarlo meets with a PACT child life therapist, and his parents see a PACT bereavement social worker. Funds raised through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals support PACT and other programs that help children and families cope with the hospital experience.
Ciarlo continues to bring his unique brand of joy to everyone he meets. He’s proud of his accomplishments, and loves telling people that his first word was “stethoscope.”
CARLY KUDZIA
Mercy Children’s Hospital
Carly's mantra is "Tiny but Awesome," and it's true in everything she does. While Carly leads the life of a typical second grader, participating in girl scouts, learning tap and jazz, excelling in math, and becoming fiercely independent, that's where Carly's "typical" ends.
She is just one of 17 kids living with progeria in the US. Progeria is an extremely rare genetic condition that causes her to age eight to 10 years each year. Children with progeria have small
stature, shorter life spans and experience heart disease and stroke along with other conditions typically associated with the average aging public, occurring as early as 6 versus 70 or 80 years of age.
Donations allow Carly’s caretakers to collaborate with global experts on progeria and help pay for diagnostic equipment.
Carly loves DIY and crafting, YouTube videos, making slime, Curious George, traveling, dolls, playing school and cooking. Carly's latest obsession is LOL Surprise dolls — collecting them,
watching YouTubers unwrap them in videos, playing with them and making videos herself!
BENJAMIN BURKE
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Days after his seventh birthday, Benjamin was diagnosed with T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and started 3½ years of treatment. His therapy began with nine months of intense intravenous chemotherapy and weekly clinic visits to monitor his cell counts. In September
2016, he moved to the “maintenance” phase of his treatment, which includes daily chemotherapy pills, weekly antibiotics and monthly clinic visits for intravenous chemotherapy.
At his children’s hospital, Benjamin received support from child life specialists to help him cope emotionally and manage his pain. He also participated in school services programs to continue his education while he was hospitalized. Support for both of these is made possible by funds raised through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Benjamin loves all things sports-related. When one of his sports heroes—Chicago Cubs first baseman and cancer survivor Anthony Rizzo—visited the hospital, they formed an immediate bond. The Rizzo family’s support for Benjamin and his family inspired the Burke family’s annual
lemonade stand, which raises money for the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation and supports work done at the Lurie Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. After his stressful days in the hospital, Benjamin has happily rejoined his classmates at school and his teammates on the baseball field
