Hello, my name is Joseph Riggs and I am seven years old. I was born with a condition called Gastroschesis. Basically I was born with my insides on the outside. I arrived on a warm Friday afternoon and was immediately transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. What a place! So after I got there with my Dad (Mom was still at another hospital) the doctors and nurses immediately started working on my little body, taking great care to put everything back where it belongs and not leave anything out! You know, I love to eat so all that stuff is important. Anyway, I can say those doctors and nurses sure took good care of me – oh and my Mommy and Daddy, who spent most of every day there by my side. I had lots of visitors including my best friend and sister, Lily. God is good! Have I told you about the place where I stayed? Well … it was great. My little “pod” was warm and cozy. I remember there were lots of stuffed animals around, cards and balloons. The ceiling was painted black and had little lights that looked like stars. There was the occasional beep from all of my machines. I guess those helped me too. All kinds of people came by to change my bandages and check to make sure I was ok. Occasionally I had to give blood … Ouch! So how am I today? I can tell you I don’t have a belly button but hope to get one soon! But I’m happy, active and crazy (sometimes a little too much). I love to play with my Legos, cars, my bike and Razor. I’m just so thankful first to God and then to my family, friends, and all who took care of me at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I’d recommend the place … even if you’re not sick.

Joseph and his family are a huge blessing to UGA Miracle, and we can’t wait to have them back in 2011-2012!

On May 9th, 2003, Keegan Puckett was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblast Leukemia. Keegan’s Leukemia treatment would have ended July 7, 2006, however Keegan relapsed in his central nervous system on January 30, 2006. After five years of chemo and a bit of cranial radiation, Keegan finished treatment on May 19, 2008. He is a survivor!

We are so excited to have Keegan and his family with us for the third time this year at Dance Marathon 2012!

The Moore family found out in November 2009 that their son Jacob had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (aka Childhood Leukemia). Jacob had already been diagnosed with Down Syndrome over ten years ago. Jacob has undergone over 15 surgeries and 39 procedures over the past nine years. Fortunately, Jacob has the “good leukemia,” which means he will not need as much chemotherapy and will be able to play amongst his friends more. He will have monthly chemotherapy as well as daily pills and regular spinal taps over the next three years. With prayers and help from friends and family, Jacob lives his life in the most normal way possible! Jacob and his family are such a blessing to our organization and we cannot wait to have them as part of our UGA Miracle family again in 2011-2012!

Our journey with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta started before Brennan was even born.  We were lucky because most families are brought to Sibley Heart Center unexpectedly – either post birth upon a routine check up or in a crisis situation when their child is in a medical emergency.  In either case it leaves families with little time to prepare or inform them of what’s to come.  Brennan’s heart defect was discovered several months into the pregnancy and we were able to meet the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta staff and tour the facilities before Brennan was admitted as a patient. Brennan was born with Pulmonary Atresia which means his main pulmonary artery never developed.  Without this artery there is no normal path for the blood to travel from his heart to his lungs to be oxygenated.  Without surgery he would suffocate.  Brennan was transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Sibley Heart Center about 12 hours after birth.  He was given medicine so that he could survive until surgery.  He had his first open heart surgery four days later.  He was in a very fragile state and only weighed 5.5 lbs.  He was too small for a long-term fix so they gave him a temporary “shunt” so he could grow bigger and survive a more invasive surgery.  The shunt meant that Brennan’s blood was only oxygenated to about 75%.  A normal person has 100% oxygen saturation and at 75% a normal healthy person would be in the hospital.  When Brennan was 11 months he had his second open-heart surgery where he had a “full repair” during which they put in an artificial main pulmonary artery and valve.  These conduits aren’t living and don’t grow so repeat surgeries are required.  Brennan had his third open-heart surgery just before his fifth birthday and he will require more as he grows and ages. Today Brennan is a very active eight-year-old boy.  He plays soccer, swims and does drama and dance.  He has unmatched energy compared to anyone else in the family – so much that Dr. Campbell calls him “Thunder Britches” which is an accurate description of his enthusiasm and spirit; you can always find Brennan singing or dancing no matter where he is (even the shower!) Last year in his first Dance Marathon, Brennan had a great time and was such a blessing to have! We cannot wait for him and his family to be a part of our UGA Miracle family again in 2011-2012!

In September 2007, Jarod was an energetic, seven year old first grader that loved Spider Man, Hulk and playing games on the computer. Then on September 22nd he was diagnosed with a Posterior Fossa Mass and had TOTAL removal of his tumor, which was found to be Medulloblastoma, or brain cancer. After his surgery, Jarod was unable to swallow, speak or move his left side. However, today he has made huge strides towards a near full recovery, and just received results of a MRI scan that showed NO SIGN OF CANCER!! The Mainland’s praise God for his healing power and are so excited to be a part of UGA miracle this year!

What started as a simple stomach virus has turned into the Littlejohn family’s worst nightmare. Six year old Rylen Littlejohn was admitted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Eggleston on Sunday January 27th. There, he has been diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy. His left ventricle is enlarged and weak and unable to pump sufficient blood to his stomach – causing severe stomach pain. After multiple IV drug and attempted treatments, Rylen was listed with UNOS as status 1A for a Heart Transplant on February 5th, 2008. Unfortunately, the next several weeks was filled with waiting for his miracle. Thankfully, exactly a month later, Rylen received his heart and went home on March 11th. He is doing flawlessly and is excited about his fourth year as part of our UGA Miracle family!

When Alison Johnson was 22 months old, she accidentally fell two stories out of an open window, fracturing her skull on the cement below. Unresponsive, Alison was transported by helicopter to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where doctors performed emergency brain surgery and told her parents their daughter might not live through the night. Following her surgery, doctors put Alison into a medically induced coma for a week to help her heal. When Alison awoke from her coma, doctors discovered that a piece of her fractured skull was pressing into her brain, causing Alison to have little-to-no control over the right side of her body. A surgery to correct the issue was successful, and Alison began her path to full recovery. Now eight years old, Alison is a bubbly, healthy child who spends her time doing gymnastics, reading and creating arts and crafts. Alison and her family have been such a blessing to have as part of our UGA Miracle family and we cannot wait to have them back in 2011-2012!

Harrison was attacked by two or three pit bulls in Albany, GA in October of 2000. An ambulance took him to Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany. His injuries were extensive: his hair was scaled from his head, his stomach was ripped open, one particularly deep bit nicked his femoral artery and there were lots of other bite marks to his face and body. Harrison had roughly ten hours of emergency surgery at Phoebe Putney to try to stabilize him as much as anything. His body was in shock. The next day Harrison was life-flighted to Scottish Rite. Harrison was heavily sedated and kept on a ventilator for ten days. He spent three and a half weeks in the ICU and six weeks total at Children’s.I always try to break Harrison’s story into two parts: our praise to God and our praise to the Medical folks involved. Like so many other of the kids’ stories from Children’s Healthcare, it was obvious to us that Harrison’s injuries were life-threatening. Someone from the ER at Phoebe Putney put a call into some local churches and a very strong prayer chain was immediately in place. I truly believe this prayer effort helped Harrison live through that first 24 hours. There were other dark days—particularly within the first couple of weeks at Children’s Healthcare, but the support Harrison received from people praying and trying to lift us up was phenomenal. I always try to praise God for the continuous mercy, grace and strength we received from Him and from the people He seemed to put in the right place and right time for us. The medical part of our story starts at Phoebe Putney (they did a wonderful job during those 24 hours), but it became obvious that Harrison needed to get to a children’s “specialty” hospital. He needed the medical expertise of the many specialists available at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (infectious disease, vascular, plastic surgery, intensivist, general surgeon, orthopedic and gastro intestinal to name just a few). I felt that the quality of care (and the genuine concern) of the doctors, nurses, pharmacy and other staff at Children’s was exceptional. As with my praise to God, I cannot thank these wonderful people at Children’s enough for their time, dedication and effort in helping to save my son’s life. For many years Harrison ranked Dance Marathon his second favorite day of the year—behind Christmas and AHEAD of his birthday and we cannot wait to have him back as part of our UGA Miracle family in 2011-2012!

Kylie was diagnosed with a large craniopharyngioma brain tumor when she was three years old. By the time of her first surgery, Kylie’s skull had separated from the pressure. Kylie suffered a stroke shortly after her first surgery, which left her unable to swallow, walk, talk, sit up, etc. She went through rehab, but some fluid built up in her brain, which was removed. Kylie went through occupational and speech therapy until 2007. In July of 2001, Kylie’s tumor recurred with a rapid growing cyst. She underwent another craniotomy and three weeks later, she began kindergarten with her class. Kylie continues to learn to adapt to living with blindness in her left eye, right side weakness, learning disabilities and fine motor issues. Kylie is a very happy, social and caring child. She loves baking for friends, making crafts, being with friends, meeting new people and going to camp! Kylie has been such a blessing to have around our UGA Miracle family over the past few years and we cannot wait for her involvement in 2011-2012!

Our journey began in the spring of 2000 when we noticed that our 3-year-old Sarah was having “sinking spells”. For no reason at all, our very high energy, exuberant little girl became lethargic- almost limp. She often complained of a bad tummy ache at night. Sarah experienced recurrent, severe pain in her “back of knees.” Her thirst became uncommonly frequent. But the symptoms were so subtle, and all had perfectly rational explanations.Finally, concern gave to worry. In October, 2000, a visit to the pediatrician culminated in the statement, “Mom, we have a problem.” Sarah’s liver was huge – hepatits – hopefully viral.Nine days later after a whirlwind of blood work, an ultrasound, and a liver biopsy, we had the diagnosis – Autoimmune Hepatitis with stage 4 fibrosis of the liver. Sarah’s body was rejecting its own liver as if it were a foreign object. Her liver was already severely damanged. She began taking immunosuppressive medications that day.For the next three years we battled the disease using a variety of medications. None was successful. The abdominal pain became severe and totally debilitating. Sarah developed other complicating medical conditions as a result of the liver disease. There was no hope for recovery from several of these because of Sarah’s diseased liver.Toward the end of 2003, Sarah’s hepatologist recommended her for evaluation for a liver transplant. She was evaluated in early December by the transplant team at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. After numerous tests, Sarah was officially listed for transplant on January 19, 2004.The next two months rushed by at an agonizingly slow place as the wait seemed forever, but in mid March we received the miracle call, “Mom, we have the perfect liver for Sarah!” Sarah received her gift of life on March 17, 2004. Sarah is now fourteen and in eighth grade. Her liver is functioning perfectly and she has no bouts of rejection. For 3 years, we prayed for a miracle of healing. At times we begged and pleaded. At other times we tried to bargain… “God, if you will just heal our little girl, we will…” We dreamed of the day when Sarah would go to sleep at night without pain and wake up ready to tackle new adventures, but we feared it was only a dream. As we let our baby girl go at the door of the O.R., we finally placed her unconditionally in the loving faithful hands of the Father, trusting in His will and purpose.”  Sarah and her family have been part of our UGA Miracle family for several years now and we cannot wait for her involvement again in 2011-2012!