Elianna's 2nd Birthday Fundraiser

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On January 14, 2023, the SickKids Hospital saved our 15 month old baby girl's life. That day we were transferred to SickKids from another hospital we had spent 3 days at. Within a couple of hours of arriving at SickKids, Elianna was diagnosed with a large cavernoma (a cluster of abnormal blood vessels) that was about 1/3 of her brain. Due to its size, there was a substantial amount of pressure on her brain and required an emergency craniotomy surgery to remove it that same night. We are forever grateful for how quickly the medical team at SickKids worked from the moment we arrived to finding the cause of her symptoms to having Elianna in surgery within a couple of hours as she did not have much time remaining. 

There are not enough words to express our gratitude to all the medical staff who cared and supported us during this very difficult time. 

In honor of Elianna's 2nd Birthday, we would like to give back and fundraise for SickKids.  

We have decided that the majority of the funds raised will be donated to the Neurosurgical Department, where Peter Dirk's team are working on building a multi-disciplinary Pediatric Neurovascular Program to provide comprehensive and individualized care, research, education and family support to infants, children and adolescents with diseases of the blood vessels in the brain and spine similar to our daughter's. Their goal is to provide the safest and highest quality care for these children with life-threatening disorders. 

We are very passionate about supporting such cutting-edge research that will improve the quality of life of children with similar conditions as our daughter’s. Children affected by the genetic type of cavernomas will continue to have the growths return in various parts of the brain and spinal cord. There are currently no cures and no way to stop cavernoma growths affected by genetics from returning. The only treatment at the time is surgery, and sometimes this is not a viable option given the delicate location of the growth. One of The Neurovascular Program’s research goals is Genomics/Tissue banking which will open doors for genetically targeted medical therapies that have yet to be developed.

A portion of the funds raised will also be donated to the SickKids Hospital as a whole to help:

• Build a new, state-of-the-art hospital and patient support buildings.
• Continue breakthrough research, turning today’s discoveries into tomorrow’s cures.
• Build partnerships across the country and around the world, so all kids get the care they deserve

We truly appreciate every single donation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for helping us reach our fundraising goal and helping us make a positive impact.

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