33^rd Annual Miracle Tournament and Celebration Dinner

Treated at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, CO.

At age 4, Maelle began to complain that her head hurt and her eyes started crossing. Doctors discovered a three-centimeter mass in her brain and immediately sent the family to Children’s Hospital Colorado where Maelle had a biopsy.

Doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado diagnosed Maelle with a non-cancerous pilocytic astrocytoma. Due to the tumors’ precarious location, it was deemed inoperable. After careful consideration, Maelle’s family and care team decided to shrink the tumor with chemotherapy. After seven months of chemotherapy, the tumor had shrunk significantly, and they were able to cease treatment and return to normal life.

For two years, Maelle enjoyed life outside of the hospital and became an avid volleyball player. But unfortunately, during a routine check-up, doctors discovered that Maelle’s tumor had started growing again. In January of 2021, Maelle began a new experimental treatment to help reduce the growth of the tumor. Maelle continued to remain in the best of spirits and came off the treatment in February of 2023.

Whilst the treatment saw limited success, she has been off all medication since. Maelle continues to visit Children’s Hospital Colorado to monitor the tumors’ progress and is excited to start high school next year! The family has hope in the groundbreaking research being conducted at Children’s Hospital Colorado to find new treatments and therapies for kids like Maelle.

“Words can’t describe what Children’s Colorado means to us,” says her mom, Kristen. “A hospital isn’t a place where most people would choose to be. And yet, I always feel at ease here, knowing that our daughter is getting the best care available. They are nothing short of amazing.”

Thanks to donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Maelle benefits from groundbreaking research being conducted by her local member hospital.

Treated at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in Oakland, CA.

Ripley was born with a congenital heart defect and spent the first week of his life in UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals’ Intensive Care Nursery. A month later, he returned for open heart surgery to repair the defect, known as Tetralogy of Fallot, which reduces the heart’s ability to pump oxygenated blood to the body. He is part of a Cardiac MRI study at UCSF that is exploring the risks of brain injury in babies with congenital heart disease.

Thanks to donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Ripley received access to critical care to correct his heart defect.

Treated at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children's Medical Center in Waco, TX.

Identical twins Audrey and Ella were born nine weeks premature, and each weighed two pounds. They spent several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Hospital. Despite their early arrival, the twins were healthy, and their early interventions were very minimal. However, when they were one year old, a routine doctor’s visit led to a referral to a plastic surgeon at McLane’s Children’s Hospital who found both of their skulls were developing in a triangular shape. This condition, Metopic Craniosynostosis, happens when the bone plates that make up the skull fuse too early and can lead to vision, learning and behavioral issues. Audrey and Ella required a Cranial Vault reconstruction/reconstructive surgery at 17 months old. After their ten-hour procedure, the doctors confirmed that they did not need any additional surgery. Today, the twins are six-years old and are growing and thriving. With their scars hidden beneath their hairline, you would never know of their condition.

Donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals helped to purchase the equipment used for Audrey and Ella’s Craniosynostosis Cranial Vault reconstruction/reconstructive surgery.