Bolton’s Bravery
With specialized, comprehensive care in hospitals tailored to the unique needs of pediatric patients, children’s hospitals help children and teens like Bolton defy the odds.
Joe Cascio
Our Stories
Every day, children’s hospitals help make moments possible. From providing access to the comprehensive care that children need to grow up to supporting children, teens, and their families with specialized treatment for some of the most complex illnesses. Discover more about the moments made possible by children’s hospital through patient stories from around the country.
Video Stories
Isaac’s Impact
Children’s hospitals provide advanced care for the most complex conditions in environments specially designed for pediatric patients, allowing children like Isaac to thrive.
Cami’s Courage
The specialized multidisciplinary teams at children’s hospitals ensure that children and teens – like Cami – can beat multiple complex conditions like cancer and heart failure.
Joseph’s Journey
The advanced, specialized care that children’s hospitals provide make moments – like Joseph beating pediatric brain cancer – possible.
Daniella’s Drive
With care delivered by specially trained pediatric clinicians, in environments designed just for children, children’s hospitals help children and teens – like Daniella – navigate complex medical conditions.
Featured Story
Innovative treatments keep Harlow smiling
Just weeks before 2-year-old Harlow was supposed to head to Jamaica to be the flower girl at her parents’ wedding, her mother noticed that her usually energetic daughter had developed a cough and grown lethargic. Her care team suggested she may have a mild viral infection and also suspected a heart murmur. But during the trip, Harlow’s condition began to worsen. The family flew her home and took her to UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, where a blood test revealed she had a rare form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. As Harlow prepared for her inpatient stay at Comer Children’s, her family was comforted not only by her oncology team’s confidence but also by the investigative therapies and established treatments offered by leukemia specialists. Harlow’s smile never dimmed, and she remained resilient even when an uncommon chemo allergy required her to be intubated. Twenty-eight months later, she rang the bell to signify the end of her cancer treatment. Today, Harlow is a healthy 5-year-old who loves to cook with her family and watch “Family Feud.” Even better, she’s still smiling.
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Unique recovery program helps Karson thrive
Karson was born prematurely at 24 weeks, weighing only one pound. He was rushed to the NICU at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where he faced numerous challenges, including being intubated, battling infections, undergoing blood transfusions, and struggling with retinopathy of prematurity. Thanks to his committed care team, Karson fought hard and went home after four months. A few months after being discharged, he was diagnosed with stage four subglottic stenosis, a narrowing of the airway between the vocal cords and trachea. His condition required a trach tube, which severely limited his movement. That’s where Le Bonheur’s Collaborating to Help Everyone Effectively Recover (CHEER) Program truly saved the day. The initiative provided essential support to mobilize Karson and help him become more independent, promoting early recovery. Team members worked with his family to forge a trusting relationship and ensure they understood every part of Karson’s condition. Now three years old, Karson is doing well in school and is set to have his trach tube removed and reconstruction surgery shortly after!
Marcela travels across the globe for life-saving surgery
Marcela was born in Guatemala with cardiac and abdominal malformations that reduced her oxygen flow and caused her heart to form outside of her chest cavity. Doctors told her parents, Isabel and Edgar, that Marcela would not survive, but her parents refused to accept this outcome. Fortunately, a TV interview about Marcela’s condition connected the family to Boston Children’s Benderson Family Heart Center. The cardiac surgery team closed the hole in her heart and relieved the obstruction of blood flow. In a separate surgery a year later, doctors placed her heart inside her chest cavity. Today, Marcela is happy and healthy and enjoys playing with her family. Her family is forever grateful for the care she received at Boston Children’s and all the support everyone provided through Marcela’s journey.
Kennedy and her kindergarten teacher become ‘heart-twins’
When Kennedy was only six years old, she was diagnosed with a heart defect that required open-heart surgery. Her mom brought her to AdventHealth for Children, where doctors guided Kennedy and her family through every step of the surgery. Kennedy was a superstar during the entire procedure and recovered in just a few days. Soon after Kennedy underwent surgery, she connected with an unlikely friend who was going through a similar experience. Her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Honor, had a heart attack and was taken to AdventHealth for cardiac bypass surgery. When Kennedy returned to school, she ran up to Mrs. Honor with a huge hug. With matching heart scars, Kennedy and Mrs. Honor bonded over their journeys, calling each other their heart-twins. As Kennedy learns more about her heart defect and advocates for others with congenital heart disease, she has a strong role model in Mrs. Honor, who understands what she’s been through.
A brother’s living organ donation saves sibling’s life
Jared was only two years old when he went into acute liver failure. After being admitted to Children’s Hospital Colorado, he was quickly put on a transplant list. With the severity of Jared’s liver failure, he needed a transplant almost immediately, and no liver was available. Fortunately, Jared was a great candidate for a living donor liver transplant. Jared’s older brother, Luis, was a match to donate and stepped up to be a living donor, saving Jared’s life. Since Jared was a toddler, Luis only needed to donate a small portion of his liver, and for both Jared and Luis, their organs regenerated to the correct size over the following few weeks. Within just a few days of surgery, Jared was feeling better and ready to enjoy life as a toddler again. Luis is incredibly grateful to have helped save his brother’s life and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Georgia leads active lifestyle thanks to pediatric care
During a 20-week ultrasound, Georgia was diagnosed with bilateral fibular hemimelia, a rare birth defect where part or all of the fibular bone is missing. When doctors delivered Georgia, they discovered her right fibula, part of her right foot, and her left toe were missing. After much prayer and research, Georgia’s parents brought her to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The hospital’s pediatric orthopedic surgeon laid out multiple options for the family, ultimately deciding that Syme’s amputation would provide Georgia with the most mobility. At only eleven months old, Georgia successfully underwent the surgery, emerged from her hip spica cast in just two weeks, and was soon fitted for her first prosthesis. Now, at six years old, Georgia is thriving and leading an active life! She loves playing soccer, swimming, tennis, and gymnastics. And her care team left such an impact on her that one of Georgia’s favorite activities is playing doctor!
Caroline defeats complex aneurysm
On a typical summer day at the pool, 15-month-old Caroline was not acting quite like herself. She wasn’t using her right arm correctly and kept falling over. Her parents took her to Wolfson Children’s Hospital Emergency Room, where a brain MRI revealed a complex giant aneurysm, which consisted of balloon-shaped bulges scattered along a blood vessel. A blood clot broke off, causing a stroke, explaining Caroline’s abnormal symptoms at the pool. Doctors at Wolfson Children’s discussed a few treatment options with her family and ultimately determined a craniotomy was the best operation for her case. Two months after Caroline’s initial symptoms, doctors performed the surgery using clips to remodel the blood vessel. The procedure went smoothly, and six days later, Caroline was discharged and feeling like her usual self again. Since surgery, follow-up appointments have shown a minimized risk of another stroke! Today, Caroline is a silly and energetic toddler who loves playing with her older brothers. She has no limitations from her stroke and will continue to visit Wolfson Children’s to monitor her aneurysm.
