Top 50 photos of 2014

Thirty weeks along in her pregnancy, Erika knew something wasn’t right. After a

quick trip to the OB, our Maternal Fetal Medicine team was her next step in a long

journey with baby Gabriel.

Kheira’s service dog passed away unexpectedly on her 13th birthday last year.

She’ll get a new dog in January 2015.

Baby Noor’s second of two surgeries with Dr. Murthy to repair a cleft palate was

live tweeted. Here she is with her father before the surgery.

The new KIDJAM! Studio in our Emily Cooper Welty Expressive Therapy Center

offers a creative outlet for patients to learn about broadcasting and have fun.

Madelyne Williams left her small but powerful mark on Capitol Hill. The 9 year old

from Kent, Ohio, was Akron Children’s Hospital’s representative at the Children’s

Hospital Association’s annual “Speak Now for Kids Family Advocacy Day.”

The second annual Flash-A-Thon at Kent State University was a great success!

$23,000 was raised to support patients and more than 500 people participated in

the dance marathon.

The Easter bunny wished Jaylen a wonderful Easter Sunday full of “high fives”

and fun!

Allison Oltmann delivered her twin daughters at just 25 weeks and 5 days. For 96

days the NICU at St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center became their first home

and the place for which their family will forever be grateful.

Every year, the Akron Zoo opens its gates for an evening for DreamNight at the

Zoo. The mission of DreamNight is to give children who are chronically ill or have a

disability the opportunity to enjoy a free evening at the zoo with their families.

We met Jordan Pollock and his family in June of 2011. We’ve followed Jordan and

his journey with spina bifida through mom Megs Pollock’s Inside Children’s blog

posts.

Our patients and their families recently took a magical train ride on the “Polar

Express,” thanks to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Rare 'mono mono' twins Jenna and Jillian Thistlethwaite were born holding hands,

capturing the hearts of millions of people around the world.

Savannah McClary was born last July weighing a mere 1 lb., 2 oz. Here she is

with Dr. Vivek Malhotra during her most recent stay in PICU.

It takes real skill to maneuver a 210-foot tall crane. Kudos and thank you to our

amazing construction team!

During a lunch-time walk on the hospital’s Akron campus, we ran into a few UA

Local 219 Plumbing and Pipefitter members taking a break.

Through The Miracles and Promises Radiothon the amazing people of our

community raised $219,450 to benefit the local programs and services of Akron

Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley!

Touchdown -- the Cleveland Browns were in the house! Linebacker Craig Robinson

visited our patients during the holidays thanks to the Akron Browns Backers Club.

Many Greater Akron area fire departments sent trucks to the annual water and suds

fest that is Fire Truck Day. The frothy fun is part of a week-long camp for childhood

burn survivors offered by Aluminum Cans for Burned Children.

Many Greater Akron area fire departments sent trucks to the annual water and suds

fest that is Fire Truck Day. The frothy fun is part of a week-long camp for childhood

burn survivors offered by Aluminum Cans for Burned Children.

Racing For Kids returned to the hospital this year with Historic Sportscar Racing

drivers Jeff Mitchell and Peter Grant and their vintage race cars.

Reading to your child at bedtime is great for relationship building and creating an

active imagination.

Sea creatures, sunshine and smiles were on hand when our patients and their

families were treated to an aquatic-themed carnival in our Emily Cooper Welty

Expressive Therapy Center, presented by Kay Jewelers.

On Aug. 1, more than 60 kids gathered at the Youngstown Country Club for the 4th

Annual Clubs for Kids.

July 22 marked the golden anniversary for Dr. Louis Schaner, who has been taking

care of kids for 50 years! He sees 20-25 patients a day at the Akron Children's

Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) offices in Alliance and Perry Twp.

U.S. Senator Rob Portman visited our burn center in August. He supported the

Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014. The recently enacted law enables burn

centers to apply for funding made available under trauma and emergency care

programs.

Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas has visited the patients at Akron Children's every year

for 4 years and never fails to raise spirits with his guitar and positive attitude.

What a cute moment. The kids were waiting in line to come in the John S. Knight

Center. Our nurses, ready to do vision screenings, enjoyed them looking on.

The lone basset hound in the Doggie Brigade, Roxie makes a big impact on

patients with her big ears and stubby legs.

This little bundle of joy was one of the babies who were transported in early April

from the NICU in Youngstown to the new NICU in Boardman.

Check out this lightning strike our construction camera captured (30-second

exposure).

Each year about 125 kids, ages 8-15, with Type 1 diabetes are our guests at Camp

Y-Noah for a week of fun.

Nothing keeps this little guy from smiling, not even the cast on his hand.

Emily's Sparkle Sprint was organized by Gretchen Naumoff to thank the doctors and

nurses who cared for her daughter, who developed encephalitis caused by a

mosquito bite.

Ahoy, matey! We talked like pirates for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and it

was fun!

Dr. Sladjana Courson at ACHP Akron East joined in the fun for International Talk

Like a Pirate Day.

Christian Abrigg, a 13-year-old boy from Canfield, was honored as the Pilot for the

Day at the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.

These magical glasses and “whiskers” do the trick for young patients and their

parents in our ER when accidental cuts happen. This 5-year-old even fell asleep as

the last few stitches were applied by our pro Doug. Doug calls stitches whiskers to

help keep our young patients calm.

These bears took the ultimate leap to find their human: jumping out of an airplane!

Several hundred stuffed bears were donated to patients after free-falling through the

air with 2 skydiving companies, AerOhio Skydiving Center and Skydive Rick’s.

These girls had a great time at the Change Bandit Bash for the annual “Have a Heart,

Do Your Part” radiothon.

Focusing on kids and customer service earned us high marks from this school

superintendent and his family.

The 15th annual “Have a Heart, Do Your Part” radiothon, presented by 98.1 WKDD,

raised $633,306.98 for the patients at Akron Children’s Hospital.

As he's delivering toys, Columbiana County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jon Price stops

to kiss his son, Sebastian, 5, who is the inspiration for the holiday toy drive

organized by the sheriff and his colleagues.

This little cutie turned 1 this year. Miles has spina bifida, and his parents shared

their journey with us on our blog.

Doggie Brigade veteran Sammy loves his job more than most people. He

especially loves to cuddle with Shannon, who has been collecting Doggie Brigade

trading cards since April 2013.

A visit from Petie the Pony from Victory Gallop was a nice distraction for Shannon

Stapleton, who has been treated for severe curvature of the spine.

Just a little bit of paint and pottery helps spread the love and hope that everyone

has for our NICU babies. All Fired Up Akron helped create precious footprint

pottery keepsakes for families.

As a part-time speech-language pathologist at Akron Children’s Hospital, Shelly

Vaughn’s services are in high demand.

If you change a few letters in perfusionist, you get perfectionist. Tom Murray and

Mike Corrigan’s job is to run the heart lung machine during open heart surgeries,

proving that their every day is no ordinary day.

These teens were headed to downtown Cleveland and the Prom to Remember, an

annual event for pediatric cancer patients from Akron Children’s Hospital, Rainbow

Babies & Children’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic and their guests.

At just 7-weeks-old, little Alexandra Price of Cuyahoga Falls was in the ER for

the flu. Santa's healing kiss and Mrs. Claus' warm arms helped to make her feel

better this Christmas eve.