Max P., Age 9 
Hometown: San Clemente, CA
Hospital: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Witty and wise for his age, 9-year-old Max Page has learned a lot from overcoming challenges and seldom lets anything slow him down. Born with tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect, Max has had multiple heart surgeries at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is required to have a pacemaker.
Awo O., Age 14 
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Hospital: Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, OH
Awo’s smile can light up a room. Whether she is acting, singing or playing volleyball, this active teen has a bubbly personality and fun loving attitude that rubs off on everyone she comes into contact with. She has learned to overcome her sickle cell disease with a positive attitude and, alongside her mom, is helping to pave the way for better treatment for adult sickle cell patients.
Alyssa M., Age 8 
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Hospital: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Alyssa is an outgoing and dynamic 8-year-old girl, who loves fashion, dancing and hanging out with her older brothers and sisters.
Robert L., Age 18 
Hometown: East Greenwich, RI
Hospital: Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
You can’t tell by looking at Robert — a healthy, happy 17-year-old — that he has endured 16 surgeries in his life.
Emmy K., Age 7 
Hometown: Plano, TX
Hospital: Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Dallas, TX
One day, at age 3, Emmy woke up without the ability to walk or speak. After several tests, she was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare disease that aggressively attacked the healthy tissue in her brain. Emmy was placed into a medically-induced coma and was at Children’s Medical Center Dallas for more than a month. Thanks to the expertise of the hospital’s clinical care team, Emmy survived her life-threatening medical episode.
Keely J., Age 3 
Hometown: Ormond Beach, FL
Hospital: Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Jacksonville, FL
Immediately after a premature birth, Keely was rushed to the Level III neonatal intensive care unit at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. She weighed only 2 pounds, 8 ounces and was diagnosed with Pierre Robin syndrome, a congenital condition that causes her to have a smaller-than-normal lower jaw and a tongue that falls back in her throat. Her tongue condition can obstruct her airway and causing difficulty breathing; it can also interfere with swallowing and feeding.
Christopher E., Age 4 
Hometown: Howell, NJ
Hospital: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Christopher needed a new heart, and soon. The doctors at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) knew this was a possibility for Chris before he was even born. While still in the womb, Chris was diagnosed with abnormal aortic and mitral valves, a rare form of congenital heart disease. He underwent in utero surgery to open the aortic valve; the doctors hoped the catheter intervention would allow his heart to develop and function more normally.
Faith H., Age 7
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Hospital: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Doctors didn't expect Faith to survive delivery but she was stronger than they thought. She had her first open heart surgery at 6 months of age to repair a congenital heart defect known as ventricular septal defect.
Ayden H., Age 9
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Hospital: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Ayden was a happy, developmentally-normal, healthy 4-year-old, when his parents started to notice that his leg would kick out to the side when he walked and his hand had tremors. His parents took him to the hospital where doctors performed a muscle biopsy on his leg and a MRI scan of his brain. Ayden was diagnosed with Leigh’s Disease, an incurable mitochondrial disease.
Madison H., age 7 
Hometown: Mankato, MN
Hospital: Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul, MN
Madison is a precocious first grader with a love of music. She knows the lyrics to every Taylor Swift song, participates in ballet, and learned to play piano before she could read.