Main Sections

Meet Danielle Morse The Champion Child For Children’s Miracle Network Hospital

photo by Photo Provided With her sisters and the Fletcher Allen Mascot, Danielle is raising funds and awareness.

photo by Photo Provided CMNH Champion Danielle Morse and Miss Vermont 2013 Jeanelle Achee collecting funds during the Big Change Round Up.

photo by Photo Provided At the July 4th parade for the hospital, Danielle and friends show that all children love play and fun even when dealing with an illness.

Tuesday October 14, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

All parents consider their children little miracles and watch them grow up with pride and love. But for those children and families, whose child has a life threatening illness, the fragility of life is more apparent and celebration of the small minutes of family, fun and love becomes all the more precious. Thankfully the Champlain Valley has the Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen which is a wonderful resource for those children and their families’ facing life threatening medical conditions. When you walk into the Children’s Hospital it is a special place decorated for children, staffed by medical professionals trained especially for childhood and teenage ailments and offers services, programs and help to not only the patient but the family.
    Sixteen year old New Haven resident Danielle Morse is this year’s Champion Child for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital (CMNH) for Vermont and knows firsthand how indispensable the hospital is for children facing life changing illness.     “I was thirteen when I was sent up to the Children's Hospital a month before I turned fourteen. At the hospital I got to make bracelets from Art from the Heart, on Sundays I got to have a sundae from the Sundae Man and because it was almost Halloween I got to carve pumpkins with volunteers. The hospital looked after me and my family in tons of ways. They have a Ronald McDonald room on the floor where you can wash your clothes, have food, make coffee and that was so nice for a parent who was staying in the hospital with their child. I also got to have a family night and even though it was past the visiting hours I got all my sisters and my parents packed into my room to watch a movie.” Danielle, like all children facing illness, need not only medical attention but a sense of home while away from home .The Children’s Miracle Network Hospital at Fletcher Allen strives to keep life as normal as possible for the child and family while being in the hospital and facing the illness.
    Danielle’s role as the Champion Child is to be an ambassador and educational link for communities around Vermont. During her year of service Danielle will speak to groups and lead fundraising opportunities like the Big Change Round Up. Sharing her story helps to raise awareness and showcase how beneficial it is to have a place at the hospital for children facing injuries and illness.
    “There are so many positive experiences I had at the hospital,” shared Danielle, “from getting stuffed animals, to my own computer and getting my hair washed while in bed. But one of my favorite things was on Halloween when they brought out costumes for the kids and we got to walk around the hospital and go trick or treating to different offices.  It was magical collecting not only candy but stickers, bubbles and stuffed animals from all different sections of the hospital.”
    Danielle was fifteen when she became a champion for the hospital and feels what is critical for Vermonters to understand is  the Vermont Children's hospital is not your average hospital and is the best place to be in the worst possible situation. “They understand that kids still need to be kids and have fun, but they have incredible machines and tools to help every child get better.”
    Everyone can help to keep the hospital special and the Big Change Round Up showed how many people give what they can to support the children. While Danielle’s school year and family obligations keep her hopping, she still has time for fundraising and programs that CMNH put on across the state.  Reminding people that the need for a children’s hospital can occur in any family at any time, Danielle shares not only her story but voices the struggles of other children and families who one day find their world turned upside down. Danielle plans to attend college after high school and become a children’s nurse.  “After being in the hospital I realized how much I wanted to be like all the nurses who stayed up late to watch over me and the other kids in the hospital,” remarked Danielle. “They always had a smile on their faces even if they had long shifts and did not get any sleep.”
    Danielle is currently working on a fundraiser of her own and will be hosting a Halloween Dance at the Eagles Club in Vergennes on Saturday, November 1st. Her goal is to raise at least $2,500.00 and to show people how important it is to help out the hospital. The dance goes from 7pm-11pm and prizes will be given out for costumes and dancing. Come join in the fun and dance to the DJ. As the Champion for CMNH and a teen interested in making an impact for the hospital which she feels she owes so much, Danielle hopes all the Valley Voice readers will come and dance, have fun and help a place where treating the illness is only part of the process. The rest is supporting and celebrating the child.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives