Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champions

Champions is a Children's Miracle Network Hospitals program that brings attention to the important work being done at its 170 children’s hospitals. It does this by honoring 51 remarkable kids who have faced severe medical challenges, and helping them tell their stories.

The Champions program designates a child in every state who has bravely battled a serious injury or illness. The Champions represent the nearly 17 million children treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals every year. The 2011 Champions have dealt with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses including genetic diseases, organ transplants and traumas, as well as various types of cancer.

The Champions travel for a week in October, first to Washington, D.C., where they traditionally meet with their state senators on Capitol Hill, and the President of the United States during a visit to the White House. They then take a private chartered flight, provided by Delta Air Lines, to Orlando, Fla. There, champions meet Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals sponsors, hospital representatives and media partners who all convene to celebrate a year of medical miracles during the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Celebration event at Walt Disney World Resort.

Paige's Story

Paige
Age 11

Alaska
The Children’s Hospital at Providence
Appendicitis

When Paige was admitted to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy in 2010, it wasn’t her first hospital stay—she had spent weeks in neonatal intensive care when she was born—but it was the hardest.

Paige, then 9, had a ruptured and severely abscessed appendix that required emergency surgery. During her recovery she faced one setback after another. A second abscess developed in her abdomen, requiring another surgery to remove it. She had swelling in her intestines that prevented her from digesting food or water, so she couldn’t eat or drink for nearly three weeks. She struggled with a stomach tube and vomiting. And, to make matters worse, Paige’s surgical incision did not heal properly and had to be reopened and treated for a week before it was closed again. She spent more than three weeks at the hospital, but Paige never complained once.

Now fully recovered, Paige is a sweet, sensitive, straight-A student. She loves to dance jazz and ballet, sing in her school choir and write short stories.