300th Smile — Clara's Plaground
Clara is a five-year-old girl from Clayton. She battles Quadriplegia, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and Cortical Visual Impairment. She relies on a feeding tube and is nonverbal.
Clara’s family requested an adaptive swing and wooden frame. Clara cannot sit by herself, walk, or roll over but has the most amazing personality and loves to be outside. Playgrounds are hard for kids like Clara without adaptive equipment, so she doesn’t get to swing. We agreed so our friends at Backyard Playground built a wonderful adaptive playground for both Clara and her sister to enjoy.
Clara also had the special honor of being our 300th Smile Recipient! Thank you so much for allowing us to help so many children and their families throughout the year!
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Austin's Lift
Austin is a fourteen-year-old boy from Zebulon. Austin suffers from a Cerebral hemorrhage which has left him immobile and requiring constant care. Austin loves to swim and be in the water but because of him being wheelchair bound, it is extremely difficult. Austin’s family requested a lift that would allow Austin to enjoy his family’s hot tub.
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Amber's Taylor Swift Concert
Amber is a six-year-old sweetheart from Holly Springs. At the age of two, Amber was diagnosed with Bilateral retinoblastoma, a type of cancer that affects the eye. Because of this, Amber lost her right eye. Amber has been cancer free for two years!
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Charlotte's Harry Potter Trip
Charlotte is a seven-year-old girl from Holly Springs. Charlotte battles ALL leukemia and is currently in remission. After her treatments, she needed something special to make her smile.
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Clay's New iPad
Clay is a four-year-old boy from Apex. Clay battles Ependymoma, a form of Brain/Spinal tumor. After Clay had surgery and radiation treatments, they found that the tumor had moved into the nerves of his spine. Because of this, he had to go through another round of radiation. Clay could definitely use a smile.
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Connor's Great Wolf Lodge Trip
Connor is a six year-old boy from Raleigh who has battled ALL leukemia for 4 years.While his battle was tough, he is currently in remission and could use a little fun time.
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Cristian's Quinceñero
Cristian is a fourteen-year-old boy from Durham. He battles Adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder that has left him in palliative care.
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Emily's Harry Potter Trip
Emily is a seventeen-year-old young lady from Raleigh. Emily was born with a small cerebellum which causes speech, developmental delays and a physical disability. When Emily was fifteen, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation of CACNA1A gene.
She is the 2nd patient in the world to be diagnosed with this progressive gene disorder which is a form of spinocerebella ataxia. Emily’s prognosis is uncertain at this time and needed something to lift her spirits.
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Emily's New iPad
Emily is a nineteen-year-old young lady from Holly Springs. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at a very young age. In addition, Emily also battles epilepsy, strokes, Crohn's disease and radiation vasculitis.
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Evana's Writing Workshop
Evana is a 22-year-old young lady from Concord who has been battling cystic fibrosis her entire life. She also lives with diabetes as a result of her disease. Evana is an aspiring writer, writing has been a major coping mechanism for dealing with her illness. She wanted to attend a summer workshop at the Fine Arts Work Center Provincetown for the Center's 3rd annual poetry festival. Meg’s Smile Foundation paid for her trip to attend the workshop where she was able to share her poems.
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Faith's NYC Trip
Faith is a seventeen-year-old girl from Charlotte. Faith has been battling cystic fibrosis her entire life. Her disease has led to severe lung disease leaving her dependent on oxygen at night and after vigorous activity. She will likely require a lung transplant in the future.
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Jayme's New Computer
Jayme is a twenty-two-year-old young man from Graham who has battled cystic fibrosis since he was seven. Jayme does not leave home because of his dependency on oxygen. Jayme requested a computer with accessories to increase the quality of his life.
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Jessica's New iPad
Jessica is a 24-year-old young adult from Carolina Beach who one day came into the hospital and was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. She had her gall bladder removed but that didn't help. She came back in and began to have vision, hearing and mobility issues. She has had seizures, aspirated and went to the ICU and is currently on her third inpatient admission in the critical care unit. Jessica has been diagnosed with the rarest of Guillain Barre Syndrome known as AMSAN. She has permanent nerve damage and is currently paralyzed from the neck down and on ventilation.
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Kaitlyn's Beach Trip
Kaitlyn is a twenty-two-year-old young lady from Durham. Kaitlyn recently had a double lung transplant due to her cystic fibrosis. Kaitlyn wanted to go to the beach with her family to spend some much-needed quality time with them.
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Madison's Room Makeover
Madison is a twelve-year-old sweetheart from Fayetteville. She has battled Sickle Cell Disease her entire life. At the time of her request, Madison had been inpatient at Duke Children’s Hospital for four months receiving a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, Madison has had several complications with her transplant.
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Mariela's Birthday Party
Mariela is a five-year-old girl from Raleigh. She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia six months prior. Her chemotherapy treatment has induced heart failure as well. Sadly, Mariela was not expected to survive more than a few months. She had a birthday coming up and her family wanted to throw her a big party.
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Megan's New Computer
Megan is a sixteen-year-old sweetheart from Holly Springs who battles Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This has left Megan with chronic pain that is almost impossible to treat. A lot of times, it is hard for Megan to attend school. Because of this, Megan requested an iMac computer so that she could complete her studies remotely.
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Raina's New Bicycle
Raina is a twenty-four-year-old young lady from Cary. Raina has battled cystic fibrosis all of her life. She requested a bicycle to help her commute and exercise.
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Ruben's New Computer
Ruben is an eleven-year-old boy from Winston-Salem who is battling Ependymoma, a brain tumor that occurs in children at a young age. Ruben has been battling his tumor for three years and needed a pick me up.
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Tabor's New Car
Tabor is a nineteen-year-old young man from Durham. He has battled cystic fibrosis his entire life. Tabor has a great spirit - he is a smart, kind, and driven individual who seeks a solution first and asks for help second. Tabor attends Durham Tech Community College and getting to a from school is hard without a car. Tabor’s request was to receive some help in purchasing a car which we were more than happy to do.
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Taylor's NYC Trip
Taylor is a sixteen-year-old young lady from Holly Springs. Taylor was perfectly healthy until July of 2018 when she was diagnosed with Advanced Disseminated Lyme Borreliosis complex with Neuroborreliosis; Babesia, Ehrlichia Chaffeensis. She was hospitalized and in the Wake Med PICU in critical condition, complicated with acute respiratory failure and sepsis. At the time, nobody could figure out why this was happening to Taylor until specialists from Duke Infectious Disease and The Jemsek Clinic determined it was the above tick-borne illnesses. She will undergo aggressive treatment for the next two years in hopes of reversing the damage to her.
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