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 Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton, OH.

At the age of three, Carah was diagnosed with childhood-onset fluency disorder (also known as stuttering). While most children outgrow a stutter by the age of 5, Carah did not. In 6th grade, a substitute teacher mocked her in class, leaving Carah spiraling with her self-esteem and confidence plummeting. She mentally and emotionally struggled and didn’t want to go to school. Carah saw countless speech therapists over the years but never felt there was a right fit as the focus was placed on her speech fluency and less on the deep, lingering emotional trauma she was experiencing. That changed when Carah turned to Dayton Children’s Speech Therapy Program. “...from the time we walked through those speech therapy doors, they took the time to actually talk with Carah and dug deeper to the parts that people can’t see. And helped Carah in learning tools and techniques to navigate those feelings and mental roadblocks,” her mom said. Carah will always have a stutter; however, she’s learned that her condition does not steal the power of her own voice. One way she’s doing that is by educating her former middle school by giving a keynote speech every year, now part of her school’s curriculum, about stuttering, understanding yourself and your feelings, and bullying. “Stuttering is a part of me, but it doesn’t define me. I have a lot of goals set for the future and I’m just getting started,” Carah said.

Thanks to donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Carah received life-changing support from Dayton Children’s Speech Therapy Program, helping her self-esteem grow as she navigates Child Onset Fluency Disorder.

Treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA.

Porter was born with Down syndrome at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where the care team helped his family understand the medical, cognitive, and social complexities to ensure he could have the best quality of life. From the beginning, specialists provided education through their Trisomy 21 Symposiums, which helped Porter’s family build a support network of other families going through similar experiences. During the medical procedures and hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses, Porter’s family was grateful for the opportunity to participate in a few clinical trials through CHOP, helping to build a body of research that will pave a positive future for other individuals with intellectual disabilities. “Porter is thriving today because we’ve got a team that sees him as a person with a bright future,” his mom says, adding that “the team at CHOP has always been by our side.” Now 12 years old, Porter plays drums in the school band. He loves horseback riding, baseball, Tae Kwon Do, and Special Olympics swimming.

Thanks to the support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Porter and his family received incredible care and support, including music and art therapy.