Hi Friends & Family,

We are so excited to be participating in the 2024 CHOC Walk in the Park presented by Disneyland® Resort on Sunday, July 21, to raise funds for CHOC! We would like to give back to CHOC for saving our little "Miracle Miles!"
 
On 1/16 at 10:30pm, Miles (a full term healthy 5-week-old baby) was sleeping in his father’s arms when he suddenly turned white, cold, and blood started coming out of his mouth - we call this moment “Miracle 1” since he was in Michael’s arms and not alone in his bassinet. We got the entire family in the car and rushed him to Providence Mission Hospital where he was immediately admitted and put on a ventilator. Mission Hospital has a designated Childrens Health Care of Orange County (“CHOC”) floor and Miles was swiftly transferred to those pediatric experts - we call this “Miracle 2.”
 
At this point, the Doctors prepared us that our baby may not survive and that he was in critically unstable condition - we were in shock with no answers and we quickly figured out that Miles needed to get to the highest level of pediatric intensive care unit (“PICU”) for care. Our hero, Dr. Goodman, was able to get Miles into a position where he could get airlifted to the main CHOC facility in Orange - we call this "Miracle 3” since they did not believe he could be airlifted due to his declining condition.
 
Within the first 24 hours in the PICU at CHOC, baby Miles was still fading and the doctors continued to express how sick he was and how concerned they were. We heard the words “critically unstable” over and over - we had no idea how to process any of this and the pain we felt was beyond anything we could possibly explain. Our next hero, Dr. Suh, decided to take a risky but lifesaving approach and put Miles on a high frequency oscillatory ventilator - we call this “Miracle 4.” Within the next 24 hours, Miles’ body started to stabilize and this was our first moment of improvement. I’ll never forget him opening his eyes or taking his first breathes again. We had people all over the world praying for our sweet baby Miles and the prayers were heard.
 
The PICU at CHOC was incredible - they gave my family the resources and support that we needed to get through this terrible time. The doctors, nurses, and specialists all came together to look for an answer to what happened to Miles.
 
Miles was cleared of all infectious disease, blood disease, autoimmune disorders, and there were no abnormalities in any of his other organs - all organs were 100% functioning and he never lost oxygen to his brain. After weeks of testing and waiting for results - the Doctors were never able to find a cause for his bleeding. Miles suffered an idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage which translates to an unknown cause of bleeding in the lungs - this event has a very high mortality rate in infants.
 
Miles spent 7 days on life support in the PICU and 25 days in the hospital before being discharged with a clean bill of health - these “Miracles” saved Miles’s life. Miles means “Soldier” in Latin and he has really lived up to his name. We are walking in honor of his fight and the care professionals at CHOC who fought for him.
 
Every dollar raised from this magical event will support health care programs, education, and research at CHOC and CHOC at Mission Hospitals. More than two million children a year depend on CHOC. And our community's generosity is what provides access to the best possible care and services.
 
We can’t thank CHOC enough for saving our baby’s life!

You can help me exceed my fundraising goal for the benefit of the children's health and well-being by:

-Donating now by clicking the "Donate" button above or
-Joining me at this year's event at the Disneyland® Resort by registering here

Many thanks in advance for helping us write a new future for so many children and their families. 

With Gratitude,

Erica & Michael DeFoe