At Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital it does not matter what’s happening in the moment; you will always have a full life. Whether you’re there for a simple accident or a serious injury, the care you receive will make you stronger just like it did for me on February 2nd of 2000 when I was diagnosed with brain cancer. Your toughest battles will become your biggest strengths. The minute you walk through those doors is the minute one future ends and a new and brighter future begins.

In your new future you will find strengths you never knew you had. With the help and care you are given you will push yourself harder. For me, I was left with a developmental and intellectual disability but that wouldn’t stop me. I would join the InclusiveU program at Syracuse University and become the program’s first student in a Newhouse major.

Some think because of what you may go through you have a limit but they are wrong. Your only limits are those that you put on yourself. Most patients have just as much if not more ability than people think . They are given the drive that will help them conquer their challenges in life. They will not face this alone. There will be doctors and nurses that will be with you every step of the way and beyond. As a former patient I promise this will happen.

You may see a kid on the streets and notice they may take longer or work harder to get things done but with the help they are given they will have the drive to work hard and get things people couldn’t imagine was in their abilities. The miracle kids that come to dance with us are always so happy to see us all and with the attitudes they have you would never know what they are going through a strength that can help carry them through life

For every kid that will walk through the doors of Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, OttoTHON is here for you. You won’t fight this battle alone; you will have all of students at Syracuse University doing OttoTHON and one day you will walk out of those doors and live your dreams. For every kid at Upstate, no matter what your diagnosis is we are here to fight for you.

Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital: Giving Kids a Fuller Life