WATCH: Thank you from Global BC for your generosity and support of BC Children’s Hospital.
BC Children’s Hospital’s 27th annual Miracle Weekend has raised $18,036,788.
The two-day celebration that raises money for sick B.C. children took place this weekend – May 31 and June 1.
Since 1988, British Columbians have raised over $206 million through Miracle Weekend fundraising campaigns.
More than 78,000 children visit the hospital annually, 67 per cent of whom live outside the city of Vancouver.
Anyone could donate by calling 310-BCCH or donating online: www.miracleweekend.com.
Find out more about the #MiracleWeekend on social media here:
Twitter: @bcchf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BCChildrens
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/bcchf/
Instagram: instagram.com/bcchf
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/bcchf
Flickr: www.flickr.com/bcchf
WATCH: Kristi Gordon at the Miracle Weekend telethon:
Here are just some of the miracles made possible by the help and support for BC Children’s Hospital:
The story of 15-year-old Aidan Chin
At the age of 11, Aidan was fine one day and the next day started feeling tired and ill.
He was diagnosed with Leukemia and began a three-year chemotherapy program, which ends next month.
When Aidan was first diagnosed, he felt a bit out of place at BC Children’s Hospital because he was too old for the playrooms and too young to hang out with teenagers. But when he turned 13, he began attending the BC Children’s Hospital teen groups and he has greatly enjoyed meeting the other teens with cancer and doing activities with them.
The story of 12-year-old Jeevan
Jeevan was born with severe heart defects that left her weak and struggling for life her first six months of life. Then she had a pulmonary valve replacement and she began to grow and hit her milestones.
It is suspected (but not diagnosed) that she has Noonan Syndrome which is a complex congenital disorder; besides the cardiac problems, she is developmentally delayed and has had feeding issues in the past.
Jeevan was doing fairly well until two years ago, when she became lethargic.
Two months ago, she had open heart surgery to again replace the pulmonary valve in her heart.
It’s not known if this will have to be done again in the future and depends somewhat on how much more she grows.
The story of 9-year-old Grace
At age of three and a half, Grace was diagnosed with a rare syndrome that caused her kidneys to leak fluid.
She endured an aggressive medical treatment to help shrink the holes in her kidneys.
The medicine suppressed her immune system, and she came down with pneumonia. Grace had to fight to survive. She was admitted to our Intensive Care Unit where she spent two weeks on a heart-lung life-support machine.
She recovered, but her kidneys were severely damaged from the illness, and she went on kidney dialysis four days a week at BC Children’s Hospital.
In August 2010, Grace became the proud owner of a healthy kidney donated by her dad, Dennis, but she will need another kidney transplant in the future.
The cancer ward
A young cancer patient shows Global BC’s Ghris Gailus what it’s really like to stay in the cancer ward at BC Children’s Hospital.
The cost of care
Global BC’s Samantha Falk finds out just how expensive it is to run an operating room at BC Children’s Hospital
WATCH: 13 year-old Ben Szakun from North Delta had a breakthrough procedure at BC Children’s hospital, becoming one of the first pediatric heart patients to receive an artificial heart valve without open heart surgery.
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