Celebrating decades of treating Miracle Kids
For more than 4 decades, Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital has teamed up with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a nonprofit organization that raises money for children’s hospitals across the nation and in Canada.
Each year since that partnership began in 1984, several young Geisinger patients have been designated as “Miracle Kids.” They’re children whose strength and courage in the face of serious illness inspire and remind us why having exceptional pediatric care right here is so crucial.
“Geisinger pediatric staff provides the great care, but as a doctor who’s treated our Miracle Kids — and hundreds of young patients with serious illnesses — I’ve learned to never underestimate the healing power of their hope, bravery and resilience,” says Frank Maffei, MD, chair of the Geisinger Department of Pediatrics. “It’s amazing to see our Miracle Kids and their families go on to serve as ambassadors for the advancement of pediatric medicine here and across the nation.”
Recent items funded by Children's Miracle Network at Geisinger include:
- Critical care and cardiovascular ultrasound equipment
- New ventilators and transport incubators for the smallest babies in our neonatal intensive care units
- Materials for the Child Life program, which helps make being in the hospital easier for kids
“All of us at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital are so grateful to everyone who supports Children’s Miracle Network,” says Dr. Maffei. “They’re an invaluable partner to Geisinger pediatric services and our wonderful children’s hospital. And we’re especially grateful for our Miracle Kids and their families, who are willing to tell their stories and be advocates for other patients and our hospital.”
This year’s Miracle Kids are:
- Cora Scott-Ellard of Montoursville, born prematurely with complications
- Mila Bishop of Beach Lake, a newborn LifeFlight® passenger
- Sarah Leighow of Danville, thriving with DiGeorge syndrome, a chromosomal difference
About 470 Geisinger patients have been Miracle Kids over the years. Some have passed away. Many are now far from childhood. But membership in this elite group can have a lifelong impact.
Since 1984, businesses, organizations and individual donors have provided more than $38 million to Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger. Some of the strongest supporters include Williamsport radio station KISS-FM, which holds an annual radiothon, and:
- Walmart Associates and Sam’s Club
- GIANT Food Stores and Martin’s Food Markets
- Rite Aid Corporation
- Marion G. Pollock
- Lee R. Herman
- Marie F. Kisner Charitable Trust
You can support pediatrics, too.
Once a Miracle Kid, always a Miracle Kid.
Sarah Sommer of Danville was in the first Geisinger Miracle Kids cohort. “When I was 2 years old, I was diagnosed with severe-profound hearing loss,” she says. “Geisinger provided my parents with much-needed guidance and support.” Today, Ms. Sommer is vice president of digital engagement with Geisinger’s Marketing and Communications Department. “I am so impressed by how today’s Miracle Kids have become champions for their community and local hospitals,” she says.
Tyson Hale, AuD, became a member of the 1996 cohort after successful cancer treatment at age 13, shortly after his family moved to Bloomsburg. “It was such a great pediatric team,” he recalls. “A core group of nurses who helped treat me are still there.” His inspiring story — teen who played football after having T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma — launched him into a local and national media spotlight and inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Today, as a Geisinger audiologist specializing in surgical neurophysiology, he sometimes works with children who have cancer. “Geisinger saved my life as a kid,” he says. “I’m paying that back.”
Martin Wrobel of Mount Carmel has been a Miracle Kid since 2019. In 2018, at age 2, he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis that caused strokes and hearing loss. Now in fifth grade, Martin wrestles — and supports Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger to help other kids, too. “He refers to Janet Weis as ‘his’ hospital,” says his mother, Alexis Groody. “He feels they saved his life.”
When Laila Mattucci of Mount Carmel was just 9 months old, she underwent a 9-hour operation to adjust the size and shape of her skull, which had fused too early. A 2022 Miracle Kid, she’s now healthy and active. “Not everyone is blessed to have a hospital like Geisinger in their backyard,” says her mother, Heather Mattucci. “Everywhere you turn, there’s something provided by Children’s Miracle Network, whether it’s the tables they sit on during a well child visit or lifesaving equipment in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.”
This story originally appeared in the summer issue of PA Health, our quarterly full-color magazine filled with wellness tips, inspiring stories and more.
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