Stories & Outcomes

For the first fourteen years of his life, Theo was healthy and active. He spent time with his family, hung out with friends, played sports at summer camp and excelled in school. But in November 2016, everything changed. While at his home in Manhattan, the teen unexpectedly developed severe...

Four-month-old Raelynn – born at just 24-weeks gestation - is heading home for the first time. It’s been a complicated journey for first-time mom, Raveen, but one that was made easier thanks to the support she and Raelynn received at Blythedale Children’s Hospital. During her 117-...

My name is Cara Macdonald, and I am a former patient at Blythedale. I believe it was Dr. Rackley, my neuropsychologist, who asked me, as part of a series of simple questions to test my awareness, who the president of the United States was. I still think back today about how shocked I was, even in...

Blythedale is a magical place with very special people working in every department. My family’s experience from admission to discharge one we will treasure forever….it was priceless. We will always cherish our memories in the month of October 2013. My autistic son has late stage Lyme...

Our daughter Demi was diagnosed with Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma, a rare brain tumor found in children. Once diagnosed in the ER, Demi had to undergo an emergency surgery to have a ventricular drain placed into her skull in order to drain the excess cerebrospinal fluid that accumulated due to...

When eight-year-old Malka arrived at Blythedale last October, she was a trailblazer in her own right. Malka was born with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's left ventricle is enlarged and weakened. Despite her...

Zoey has a smile that lights up a room. The exuberant thirteen-month old was born via emergency caesarean section after she and her mother, Melanie, were involved in a car accident. Delivered at just 25-weeks gestation, Zoey - considered a "micro-preemie" - weighed a mere 1 lb., 7 oz...

In August of this last year, a previously healthy and very active five-year-old Peter was diagnosed with a tumor on his spine. A mere week after his diagnosis, and following complicated surgery, Peter was admitted to Blythedale's Yellow Unit for comprehensive inpatient therapy. His family's...

Rafeena Ali looks at her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Angel Grant and still can’t believe what she sees: a little girl who’s babbling, zooming around the house, and copying everything she sees on Dora the Explorer. "You’d never know how tiny and sick she was,” says...

Saverio Sportella graduated with a degree in political science from Fordham University this year. But just a few years ago, it seemed unlikely that he would be rejoining his high school classmates anytime soon. In April 2004, Saverio, then 15, was hit by a speeding car while crossing the street...