Our Stories

Arriving at 24 weeks and five days, Kepley James entered the world at 1 pound and 10 ounces. Still so small that you could see her lungs through the skin on her chest.  

Most mornings, you will find Terry Pate, Maintenance Mechanic, Engineering, cleaning a fountain in a secluded courtyard at Children’s Medical Center Dallas – regardless of the weather forecast.

As they peered over the isolette in the NICU, Jennifer and Angie saw past the crooked smile of Elli’s cleft lip and the congenital heart defect and saw a child they loved instantly

“As of that moment, our lives would never be the same,” Arya's mom said. “I felt strongly that if God had chosen me to care for her, then my job was to do whatever it takes to do exactly that.”

Hoping to raise at least $2,000 to support the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, where she works as a research coordinator, Shahenaaz Sunderji simply asked for help.

Looking at this bubbly 5-year-old, you wouldn’t know she had a complex medical history, and that when she was a baby, the Children’s Health foster clinic saved her life.

Clara and Dianne have been peddling a "fun cart" through the halls of Children's Health for two decades through their volunteer work.

“When God doesn’t give you children, he gives you the opportunities to help other children,” Arlton said.

After beating breast cancer two decades ago, Lori finds countless ways to give back to patients dealing with the stress and anxiety she's all too familiar with.

"Even though the situation can be brutal, I wanted to show that you can have fun and make a good time out of the situation you’re in," Davion said.

For six months, this Children’s Health hospital room adorned with cutouts of butterflies, hearts and unicorns has been a temporary home for Zena and Kenda.

Ryan, manager of pastoral care at Children's Health, say its the holistic care offered to patients and their families that drives his giving.

Christian works behind the scenes at Children's Health, supporting children through technology and fundraising to send them to summer camp.

Diagnosed with sickle cell disease as babies, brothers Leo and Reagan have learned to live life in pain. And even though the disease is invisible, the pain is real.

Adopted at birth, Addison suffered from frequent ear infections and severe balance issues, which compromised her hearing and delayed her walking until she was almost 18 months old.

One of our Halloween-loving patients, Noah, made a special trip to Spirit Halloween to get a behind-the-scenes look at how their spooky animatronics work.

Through his work at the Center for Pediatric Eating Disorders, Dr. Andy is helping make life better for children.

Ava loves Broadway musicals, is obsessed with sharks and wants to be a marine biologist. And like many people, she hasn’t always liked how she looks.

A lifelong community leader and attorney, Rebecca has maintained strong ties to Children’s Health through leadership on its Board of Directors and as Past President of the Women’s Auxiliary in Plano.

Her aunt taught her how to apply blush to accentuate her cheekbones and eyeliner to brighten her eyes. But no one prepared Camila on how to fight cancer.

A muggy Friday evening in late May, wearing a polyester blue gown over a shirt and tie, is not the stuff of teenage dreams. But this day was 18-year-old Davion's dream.

“We’d sang her a million-and-one songs trying to put her to bed or rock her to sleep at night, and she’d never heard any of it,” Finley's mom said. “She’d never even heard us say, ‘I love you.’”

Her future was bright. The sky was the limit. Until one day last December when it almost all came crashing down.

Elaine, mother of four, doesn’t take for granted the chance to rock her youngest, Obie. For almost the first two months of life, Elaine couldn’t hold him. An incubator at Children’s Health was his crib.

“I want Eli to have a normal life,” Eli's dad said. “And the only thing I want to be different about him is the scar on his chest, which is a badge of honor for going through what he did.”

Friends and neighbors of PGA golfer John Senden used to ask how to improve their golf game when they’d see him. Now, they want to know how his 15-year-old son is doing.

For six months, a Children’s Health hospital room adorned with cutouts of butterflies, hearts and unicorns has been a temporary home for 2-year-old Zena and her mom, Kenda.

Nancy and her team members have thousands of opportunities each year to support children and their families on some of the hardest days of their life.

During her journey at Children's Health, Hanna collected more than 700 Beads of Courage to represent different milestones or treatments, more than any other patient in the trauma program.

What to do When your Child Gets Sick, a program funded by Kohl’s Cares, helped lead to a 6% decrease in repeat low acuity visits to the Emergency Room at Children’s Medical Center Dallas in its inaugural year.

Elianna was born with two severe heart defects and had her first heart surgery when she was just 13 days old and her heart was the size of walnut.

Children's Health has begun construction on a $56 million, multi-year renovation to its emergency room at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, its flagship hospital.