Heroes for Hope
Stories
For each day of our virtual event, we featured a different person/family whose life has been impacted by Children's Hospital Colorado. You can read/watch their inspiring stories below.
Monday
For day one of our week-long virtual event, Meghann and Ziggy Guentensberger share how Children's Hospital helped them while they were in the PICU with their daughter Rylie. After Rylie's passing, they founded an organization in honor of her, called Rylie's ARK. For more information, please visit their website ryliesark.org.
Tuesday
Today's story is from one of our own teammates, Lindsey. While she wasn't treated at Children's Hospital, she still received life-saving care from them.
"In late February of 2011, I contracted pneumonia. My symptoms were exacerbated by my asthma, climatically landing me at Swedish Medical Center on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma. On the 18th of February, one of my lungs partially collapsed. Not having the proper resources or staff to perform a bronchoscopy, Swedish Medical Center called Dr. Khan, a talented pulmonologist from Children's Hospital, in the middle of the night to perform a bronchoscopy on my lung. Dr. Khan arrived as soon as she could, saving my life. On the 25th of February, my other lung partially collapsed. Swedish Medical Center contacted Dr. Khan once again to perform yet another bronchoscopy on me, this time at 3:00 am.
I regularly visited Dr. Khan at Children's Hospital for the succeeding years. She now works with Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides medical aid in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases."
Wednesday
Today, Deb and Jen share how Children's Hospital Colorado saved their son Eli's life, and provided hope during a dark time.
Thursday
Today's story is from Annalise, the founder of Heroes for Hope.
"I’ve lived with mental illnesses for years now. However, in September of 2019 my anxiety got so bad that I was unable to function, or even attend school. So for four weeks in October I was in a day program at Children’s Hospital that helped stabilize me enough to return to school. It was an understandably scary time, but Children’s Hospital helped provide hope. Their building is brightly painted, with fun statues and gardens to look at. And the staff did their best to bring joy and a sense of normalcy to my family and I’s days there. Since then I’ve continued to receive outpatient treatment at Children’s on a regular basis. Children’s Hospital has provided hope and treatment to me and thousands of other kids, whether they are suffering from a mental illness or a heart disease. I created Heroes for Hope as a way to give back to them, and to enable them to continue to help kids. While this year’s event is focused on toys, we hope to have a more mental-health-focused event in the future.
Mental health is very important, especially during times like this. Please practice self care, and reach out to loved ones or a crisis line if you need support"
Today's story is from Avery, who underwent a spinal fusion surgery at Children's Hospital for her scoliosis.
Friday
Saturday
Today we share a video from Children's Hospital, showing just how important your donations are, and who they will go to!