33^rd Annual Miracle Tournament and Celebration Dinner

Treated at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX.

Kylea was born prematurely at 34 weeks in Kansas, and she tested positive for cystic fibrosis (CF). Her medical team thought it was a false positive since she had no symptoms. Months later, Kylea was still under five pounds. Her mom took her to the emergency center at a nearby children’s hospital in Missouri, where Kylea was admitted for jaundice. After a liver biopsy and other tests, including blood tests to look for the genetic mutations that cause CF, the family got confirmation: Kylea had two copies of delta F508, the most common genetic mutation that causes cystic fibrosis. Once she had an official diagnosis, Kylea’s family turned to Texas Children’s Hospital since they were ranked number one in pulmonology and offered a holistic approach to care. Her family moved to Houston, just in time for the new school year. Her childhood was filled to the brim with sports, dance, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, swimming, science camp, and trips to the zoo.

Today, she is 15 and studying French. She hopes to travel the world and study forensic psychology in college.

Thanks to donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Kylea had access to world-class, holistic pulmonology care for cystic fibrosis.

Treated at UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, CA.

Isaac was a healthy baby, but as a toddler, he became lethargic and stopped eating. His low energy and recurring fevers meant multiple trips to the doctor’s office with no answers. When his skin became pale in November 2016, Isaac’s mom advocated for a blood test despite being told it was likely a virus. The staff ran a Complete Blood Count. That afternoon, a nurse practitioner called and told Isaac’s mom to pack a bag and take him to UC Davis Children’s Hospital. The family got the official diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Isaac’s treatment began right away. He spent his second birthday at the hospital and his cancer treatment continued for years at the pediatric infusion center at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy programs like music therapy and interactions with the facility dog made the treatment much more tolerable. Today, Isaac remains cancer-free and loves to play football, watch sports and go to the ocean.

Thanks to support from Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Isaac was able to receive customized cancer treatments so he could live a healthy life in remission.

Treated at Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, New Jersey.

Thirteen-year-old Gabriella (Gabby) was running at track practice when suddenly she felt her left arm drop on her last lap. After she lost feeling in her arm, she quickly lost sensation in her left leg and fell to the ground. Gabby was rushed to the pediatric unit of a local trauma center. The hospital immediately took her for a CAT scan, which revealed a brain bleed. After several tests, the doctors diagnosed Gabby with a rare brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) rupture in her right frontal lobe.

She had to wait 10 days for a craniotomy to remove the AVM because they needed the blood to settle in her brain. A few days after surgery, Gabby was transferred to Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH) for inpatient therapy. AVMs cause stroke-like symptoms, in Gabby’s case, paralysis of the left side of her body and facial weakness. For 19 days in a pediatric intensive care unit, Gabby couldn’t move or sit up. During the five weeks she spent at CSH, Gabby received physical, occupational, speech, and recreational therapies, including aquatic therapy and targeted ways to help her walk again and smile symmetrically. Gabby arrived wheelchair-bound and successfully walked out of CSH on her own. Since then, started practicing soccer and lacrosse again.

Donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals helped Gabby benefit from various forms of therapies that supported her road to recovery.