Meet Sha'Nia

Born in 2016, Sha’Nia was rushed to Nemours Children’s Hospital immediately after birth for open-heart surgery because of a severe congenital heart defect. Nemours surgeons diagnosed Sha’Nia with Infradiaphragmatic Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return.  

Sha’Nia was able to go home after multiple surgeries, but was soon rushed back to Nemours  when she went into atrial flutter, a condition that happens if the heart’s upper chambers beat out of coordination with the lower chambers, causing poor blood flow. Read Sha'Nia's full story.

Meet Mateo

Mateo was a normal 12-year-old healthy and happy boy. One day after a karate class, he complained about chest pain and was rushed to the ER at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. The next day it was confirmed that Mateo had Leukemia. He started chemotherapy treatment that same day, after further evaluation, Mateo was officially diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - High Risk T- Cell. Mateo went through very aggressive chemotherapy treatments, blood transfusions and platelets transfusions for the first 9 months. Today, Mateo is in remission and currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment until January, 2021. Despite missing all of his 7th grade school year, Mateo is currently attending 8th grade and will graduate with his classmates he was with since first grade! Mateo's love for music and playing the guitar stemmed from his experience with Child Life and the Music Therapy program. He can play some incredible classic rock tunes with ease!  Mateo was recently accepted to go to Salesianum High School this fall and cannot wait to attend. Watch Mateo's story.