We ride in honor of Serenity Lynn Rhoades. Just a wee bit early, Serenity surprised the Cerretto family when she was born at home, barely at 38 weeks. With multiple medical and developmental challenges, Serenity had her first surgery when she was only one month; and other surgeries would follow, including a surgery to remove her adenoids and tonsils when she was just three years old after a diagnosis of sleep apnea. She is now 12 years old and is doing well but continues to require medical and therapeutic support. Her current diagnoses include Autism; ADHD; CKD (chronic kidney disease); Global Developmental Delay; Scoliosis and Mixed Expressive Language Disorder. Due to the significant curvature of her spine, she will be fitted with a brace very soon. While each of these had an emotional impact on her family, the hardest for her family was recognition that she might not ever talk. Her great grandparents wanted so badly to hear her speak, and before he passed, Ron (her great grandfather) was moved to tears when she called him “Papa”. This was her gift to him.
To our donors and potential donors, because of your generosity, the staff at Children’s Hospital will continue to do everything they can to improve Serenity’s quality of life and her parents will continue to receive the financial and and emotional support they need as Serenity matures into a young woman.
If you have not made a donation to support the work of Children’s Hospital, please consider doing so. No! There is no fairy tale ending for every child but each child’s quality of life is made better because of the efforts of the staff. It’s through your support that these efforts and successes are possible.
