It’s The 2021 Making Miracles Radiothon For Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta!

Today is the Making Miracles Radiothon benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta! Did you know that Children’s is a nonprofit that doesn’t turn away families and costs $4,700,000 to operate daily?

4.7 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY.

Last year they had 1.2 MILLION+ patient visits from ALL Georgia counties!

Life saving surgeries. Transplants. Critical care. Specialty treatments. Ongoing therapies. Parent, teacher, and caregiver education programs.

Please help Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta care for kids in our community. Make a donation by text, phone, or online and become a Miracle Maker today!

Text: “Miracle” to 64-636
Call: 1-866-781-8811
Make Your Gift Online, Here!
 

Today we’re talking to families who lives were changed  thanks to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta!

Meet Phoenix Walker

Pheonix has Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) with PTPN11 mutation. JMML is a rare type of blood cancer that occurs when bone marrow production of white blood cells becomes severely dysregulated. Phoenix was well known in the hospital.

 

She had a video go viral of dancing with her daddy at the hospital. We loved the news coverage for the hospital and awareness for childhood cancer it brought and they are very close with the nurses still as well. They will forever be CHOA family.

Meet Luca Berardi

Luca was diagnosed with Bacterial Meningitis at just 5 months old…along with Adenovirus and Rhinovirus. Due to how sick he was, Luca had to be life flighted from Athens to CHOA Scottish Rite.

During Luca’s stay, he always had his lovie blankets surrounding him. We decided as a family to collect lovies and donate them to CHOA. With our wonderful community’s support and the support of those we don’t even know from around the country, we were able to collect over 500 lovies and Luca and his older sister Milania helped donate them to CHOA Sottish Rite. WSBTV even covered our story!

Luca is a thriving 2.5 year old now! Here’s what Luca and his family loved about Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta: Children’s is a place where miracles happen. From the physicians to the staff to those at the Starbuck’s in the lobby, EVERYONE cares not just about the patient but the entire family. It’s not a place any family wants to be necessarily but having Children’s Health Care of Atlanta in our state is priceless. The love and support the CHOA team shows the entire family is AMAZING!! From patient, to parents, to grandparents and siblings, we were all loved and cared for! THE ENTIRE CHOA TEAM!! We are so thankful for everyone at CHOA. Luca’s amazing doctors and nurses, his techs, those smiling faces in the cafeteria, EVERYONE is the BEST! The care CHOA provides is unparalleled. We were so thankful to be at CHOA and thankful our local hospital, Piedmont Athens Regional, has a partnership which allows children to be sent to CHOA quickly to receive the care they need!

Meet Dontavious Newell

Dontavious Newell loves to play soccer, like to make videos and loves playing on his PC. He also has asthma and Sickle cell anemia, and treatment for sickle cell includes medications, blood transfusions, and sometimes bone-marrow transplants. Here’s his story and what he loved about Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

CHOA has the largest pediatric sickle cell disease program in the country, caring  for nearly 2,000 kids each year. 

Meet Parker Grelecki

Parker is a HUGE sports fan, storing all kinds of stats and facts on teams. He wants to be a sports broadcaster, as those are his heroes rather than the athletes themselves. Parker was the 2015 Ace All-Star, the national spokesperson for Ace Hardware and their CMN Hospital efforts.

Parker received the diagnosis of severe hydrocephalus (excess fluid on the brain) during pregnancy. He was delivered via C-section at 39 weeks, with less than 8 millimeters of brain matter. He had 2.5 pounds of excess fluid compressing brain against the skull and received a shunt at 2 days old to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure on the brain. He also underwent multiple craniofacial surgeries to rebuild his skull.

He has his struggles resulting from the brain damage, but given what he has overcome and become, he is the personification of the word miracle and he’s grown into the most gregarious and charismatic person we know.

Meet Michael Henderson

Michael loves Braves Baseball and his favorite thing about Children’s ATL is the service dogs.

Michael has a rare condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. A rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth. Tetralogy of Fallot defects cause oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the rest of the body. Risk factors include a viral illness such as rubella during pregnancy, maternal alcoholism, or a family history of the condition. Symptoms include blue-tinged skin and shortness of breath. Surgery is typically performed the first year of life, followed by ongoing care.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s not-for-profit healthcare system includes:  More than 50 pediatric cardiologists in 22 locations statewide.

Meet Elijah Kimaru

Elijah loves gaming and soccer and his favorite thing about Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is the pet therapy.

Elijah has Stage IV neuroblastoma MYCN which is a cancer that is commonly found in the adrenal glands. Neuroblastoma is a cancer often found in the small glands on top of the kidneys (adrenal glands). It can develop in the belly, chest, neck, pelvis, and bones. Children ages five or younger are most commonly affected.

U.S. News & World  Report ranked the Aflac Cancer and  Blood Disorders  Center No. 7 in the country for pediatric cancer.

More than 1,800 kids are in CHOA’s Cancer Survivorship Program. 

Meet Aubrey English

Aubrey was born at 1 pound, 10 ounces and stayed in Children’s ATL’s NICU. She has Hepatoblastoma (liver cancer). During surgery, 50% of her liver was removed, all of the tumor, and her gallbladder.

Aubrey remained in the hospital after her initial surgery for 30 days. That hospitalization was complicated by starting chemotherapy a month later and developing a fluid collection near her liver. Aubrey’s treatment plan included 18 weeks of chemotherapy.

Aubrey loves to draw, dance and do arts & crafts. Her favorite school subject is reading and she loves the color purple. Her favorite movie character is Moana and her favorite music is Ciara’s “Level Up” and JoJo Siwa.

Meet Melina Petriccione

Melina was diagnosed with Meningioangiomatosis, meaning she had a brain tumor that was the size of a ping-pong ball in her left temporal lobe and it was causing seizures.

Originally, it was deemed inoperable as she could lose her ability to speak/understand language, however it was successfully removed in February 2018 about 7 weeks after it was discovered.

Melina was the youngest patient at CHOA to ever have a successful Functional MRI. She loves the loving, supportive community at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The very best professionals in the world genuinely care about patients and their well-being and that they always create a feeling of positivity and warmth.

Melina started “Feed the Brain” at CHOA where food/snacks are donated to families in the neurological wing of the hospital (her mom Tracy is actively involved and collects food a lot and her dad, Joe, is on the CHOA’s “Legacy’s Advisors Board”