Our Children
Meet Our Children of 2009
Emma Willey
Age:6 Years
Emma has visited the Stollery Children's Hospital operating room 14 times for both major surgery and investigation. Now six years old, Emma’s well-being is dependent on a team of 16 specialists, a bit of technology and, of course, her parents.
Dejanelle Huntley
Age: 1.5 Years
Dejanelle was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, a condition where the right atrium of the heart is underdeveloped. In July 2008 little Dejanelle was the Stollery’s 100th transplant and is now a beautiful 1 1/2-year-old girl, growing with no signs of organ rejection.
Owen Thompson
Age: 2.5 Years
Known by Stollery staff as the "happiest, healthiest sick kid here", Owen has spent half his life under care at the Stollery. Born with a condition known as Gastroschisis, Owen will likely be on intravenous for the rest of his life and may face further surgeries.
Karan Kumar
Age: 10 Years
After seeing a specialist at the Stollery Children's Hospital, Karan was diagnosed with a rare granular cell tumour in his right lung. He has been through 10 procedures to remove as much of the tumour as possible without undergoing complex surgery.
Cora Carter
Age: 16 Years
At 14 years old, Cora began experiencing mild seizures. A CAT scan revealed an atypical tumour and suddenly a one-day appointment became a three-week hospital stay. Today, Cora is 16 years old and still visits the Stollery for regular follow-up appointments, but her future is bright.
Sienna Wood
Age: 2.5 Years
In her first year of life, Sienna underwent nearly 30 surgeries — a record for any baby at Alberta Children’s Hospital. During her long stay at the hospital, Sienna has won the hearts of the nurses in unit 3. Her sweet disposition and piercing blue eyes, as well as her ability to blow kisses at everyone who comes to visit, makes her a joy to know.
Sydney Burris
Age: 5 Years
In 2003, Sydney was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. She has had several surgeries to correct the glaucoma and now has tubes in her eyes to relieve the fluid build, which causes pressure in her eyes. With glasses and an 18-month patching program, her vision has now improved to 20/25 without glasses.
Brooklynn and Dax Thom
Age: 7 Years & 7 Months
After a battery of tests at the Alberta Children’s hospital, Brooklynn was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was almost four months old. Fortunately, Brooklynn has a mild version of CF which primarily affects her digestive tract. Her little brother Dax was also diagnosed with the disease, a diagnosis that was discovered before he was born and confirmed by the newborn screening program.
Michael Claassen
Age: 7 Years
Summer 2007 was not a very fun one for young Michael. After a second kidney infection he was referred to Alberta Children’s Hospital where it was discovered he was experiencing some reflux and the infections had causes some kidney damage resulting in high blood pressure. After a number of procedures and medication for the high blood pressure, Michael is leading a happy, active life.
Kelly Hogarth
Age: 12 Years
When Kelly was just five years old she developed a cancer so rare that the doctors at the Alberta Children’s Hospital had never seen it in a child so young. Called Ewing Sarcoma, the cancer was so aggressive that a tumour had already destroyed much of her jawbone. Thankfully, doctors at the Alberta Children’s hospital helped Kelly fight the tumour.
