I was honored to photograph this little one when she was just 4 days old, and again for her first Halloween, her first Christmas, her baptism, her first visit with Grandparents, her first Birthday, and her second Christmas.
On Mother's Day weekend, I got to be there to photograph her first charity function: The Pediatric Stroke Bowling Awareness Event, in her honor. It was so much fun. Here's a link to my slideshow of the event.
Baby E. had a stroke before she was born. As her mom explained in an email about the event:
"I had no idea that children had strokes, let alone unborn babies, but stroke occurs in one in every 4,000 live births, a number occurring in the womb.
E. was diagnosed in February of last year following an MRI that revealed damage to the left side of her brain, which has cased right-side paralysis. E., now 20 months old, has been receiving occupational and physical therapy every week since she was about 7 months old and has made great progress. She is using her right hand more and more and she has been walking for nearly a month now!"
Not only does E. walk, she loves to dance.
This event raised over $5,000 for CHASA- the Children's Hemiplagia and Stroke Association which provides research grants, family retreats, scholarships, online support groups and many other services to help pediatric stroke survivors and their families.
E. was diagnosed so early because her parents were proactive in noticing that she was primarily using one hand. They were also assertive in seeking out therapies and the progress E. has made as result has been miraculous.
If you are interested in donating to CHASA on E's behalf, you can do so here.
