By: Krysten Brenlla

At just 14, Jake Alexander Kleppen is known on Instagram as a “victorious warrior” – a title he’s earned by facing cancer not once, but twice.

“I never felt any symptoms – all we noticed was my eye,” he said. “It was swelling a lot, and I was originally diagnosed with hypertropia when I was 8.”

Hypertropia is a condition where one eye turns upward. But when Jake’s pediatrician took a closer look, she noticed something was off. She sent him to the emergency room for testing, where doctors made a life-changing discovery.

“He was actually suffering from Ewing sarcoma,” said Marisel Jarrin Kleppen, Jake’s mother. “Never did I imagine we would leave the hospital with a cancer diagnosis.”

Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive soft tissue cancer that usually appears in the limbs, hips, or chest. For Jake, it appeared in his eye, which is extremely rare.

“At that point, he was already stage three,” Marisel said. “Had we waited any longer, who knows what would’ve happened.”

Thankfully, in September 2019, Jake found a specialized pediatric cancer team at Holtz Children’s Hospital.

“We targeted his cancer with 11 months of chemotherapy and 31 rounds of proton beam radiation, which is very precise,” Marisel said. “It affected the symmetry of his face, vision, teeth, and even cognition. But still, he fights through that – he’s super smart and never gives up.”

Eventually, Jake rang the bell at Holtz Children’s – he was cancer-free. He returned home to his family and friends, celebrating nearly five years of remission.

“I felt so free – I felt amazing,” Jake said.

But toward the end of 2024, after a week at Civil Air Patrol camp, Jake felt sick.

“I gave him Advil, and told him to go to sleep. The next morning, he woke up in a puddle of sweat,” Marisel said. “I knew immediately that we had to go to the hospital.”

In December, Jake was diagnosed with his second form of cancer – leukemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer where abnormal white blood cells crowd out the healthy ones, making it hard for the body to fight infections, stop bleeding, or carry oxygen.

“They did the blood test, and they noticed that his white blood cells were basically non-existent,” Marisel said. “All his numbers were low, and in my head, I didn’t want to think it was cancer. But I just knew it wasn’t normal.”

Jake was referred back to Holtz Children’s to fight cancer a second time.

“Unfortunately, the leukemia was caused by the treatments he received to fight off his original cancer,” said David Crawford, MD, director of pediatric stem cell transplantation at Holtz Children’s and UHealth – University of Miami Health System. “But Jake will be a unique child who survives two different malignancies.”

His new treatment plan included chemotherapy and a targeted drug called blinatumomab, which uses the body’s immune system to attack leukemia cells, in hopes of reaching remission.

Once Jake was in remission, the search for a bone marrow donor began – and against all odds, his brother, Justin, was a perfect match.

“The first time Jake was diagnosed with cancer, I was devastated,” Justin said. “I couldn’t believe he had to go through this a second time, but I knew I had to stay strong. When I found out I was a match to be his bone marrow donor, I was so excited.”

On May 12, 2025, after months of preparation that included immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and full-body radiation, Jake was ready for his bone marrow transplant.

“Being Jake’s donor is going to give us a bigger and better bond, and I’m just excited for him to get better afterward,” Justin said.

“Having Justin as my donor means we’re really blood bonded now,” Jake said. “I’m so grateful.”

Within six weeks, Jake’s team hopes he’ll be able to go home. And within a year, they’re optimistic he’ll fully recover with a new immune system from his brother.

“At Holtz Children’s, we have outstanding pediatric cancer care and cutting-edge treatment options,” Dr. Crawford said. “Jake and his family are wonderful people – we’re hopeful that he’ll survive this and feel like himself again.”

“I tell other kids who may be going through something similar to always see the good in everything,” Jake said. “It’s not going to be easy, but always try to find the silver lining, and you’ll be okay. I know I will.”

By: Miranda Torres

When Brianna Denny was 11 years old, she was diagnosed with a blood factor deficiency, a rare bleeding disorder where clotting proteins in the blood are missing, low, or don’t work well. Until this point, she was a normal, healthy kid who enjoyed softball, spending time with her friends and family, and going to school.

In February, Brianna, now 15, broke out in a rash on her feet. When it began to spread to her legs and became painful to the touch, she and her family knew something was wrong. A visit to a local children’s hospital led her to a rheumatologist, who began running tests to identify the cause of the rash.

About a month later, the rash returned and went further up Brianna’s leg. A hematologist recommended she be transported to Holtz Children’s Hospital.

While at Holtz Children’s, it was discovered that Brianna had autoimmune hepatitis, a rare, chronic liver disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the liver, and hepatopulmonary syndrome, a rare lung complication connected to liver disease. Due to these conditions, she was experiencing stage three cirrhosis of the liver, a condition that can only be treated with a liver transplant.

Her hepatopulmonary disease meant that Brianna required oxygen for over a month while the team at Holtz children’s focused on her liver.

Brianna was immediately placed under the care of the pediatric transplant team at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), which included Gennaro Selvaggi, MD, transplant surgeon, Jennifer Garcia, MD, medical director of pediatric transplant services, adult and pediatric intestinal rehabilitation, and intestinal transplant, Akin Tekin, MD, liver, intestinal, and multivisceral surgeon, and Jessica Hochberg, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist at Holtz Children’s Hospital.

Brianna was listed for a transplant on April 17, and just seven days later, received the call that a liver had been found. On April 25, Dr. Selvaggi and his team transplanted Brianna and gave her a second chance at life.

While it was initially expected that Brianna could potentially require oxygen for at least a year post-transplant, she is off oxygen and recovering back home in Lake Placid. “She is determined, a fighter, and against all odds wants to get back to her normal life which is think is hugely important in her recovery journey,” says Dr. Hochberg. She also has a great support system in her family.”

She is looking forward to returning to her favorite activities such as softball and spending time with her friends, and school in November.

“Thank you to the team of doctors, nurses, and everyone at the hospital who took care of me,” Brianna said. “My mom gave me the strength to get through this, and so did my friends, who reached out every day.”

By: Miranda Torres

Kevin Valdez, 15, was riding ATVs with his friends on July 9, 2023 when his life changed forever. Despite being warned not to ride the four-wheeler and to avoid driving on main roads, Kevin drove off without informing his loved ones. In the middle of the ride, he was caught off guard by an object ahead of him, and slammed his breaks to avoid running it over. The force from the abrupt stop launched him 50 feet. His Life360 app alerted his mom of a crash, which is how he was found.

“All of Kevin’s friends were older than him and had their licenses, but he was only 14 and had never driven on the streets with cars before, which is why I didn’t want him riding the ATV that day,” said Ileana Matos, Kevin’s mom. “It all happened so fast, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening.”

Kevin was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, but was then airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial due to the severity of his injuries, which included a traumatic brain injury (TBI), brain swelling, and a broken femur.

“I remember being in such shock that I raced to Ryder Trauma to meet the helicopter. We got there so fast that I watched the helicopter land knowing my son was inside,” Matos said. “That was the last time I was behind the wheel of a car since.”

Because of the TBI, Kevin was in a coma for more than a month and temporarily paralyzed on his left side. Heather McCrea, MD, PhD, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Holtz Children’s Hospital, and a UHealth – University of Miami Health System pediatric neurosurgeon, and the pediatric neurosurgery team placed a pressure monitor to optimize medical management and reduce his intracranial pressure, which would be key to preventing further brain injury.

Kevin’s brain pressure wasn’t stable enough to undergo the orthopedic surgery needed to correct his broken femur until three weeks post-accident. Brian Black, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Holtz Children’s, was able to operate on the fracture via a small incision in the hip. After having his broken femur corrected, Kevin was able to bear weight on his leg again, which allowed him to start inpatient rehabilitation care.

After being discharged from Holtz Children’s in September 2023, he was admitted to an inpatient facility in Jacksonville, FL that catered to pediatric rehabilitation patients with more serious cognitive deficits. While there, Matos was dedicated to getting Kevin to “emerge” – a term used in the rehabilitation field that signifies a person has regained their ability to interact, be alert, and be aware of their surroundings by responding and voluntarily participating in therapies. A month later, Kevin regained consciousness and qualified for acute inpatient rehab therapy at Holtz Children’s.

He began his stay in November 2023, undergoing physical, occupational, and speech therapies six days a week under the guidance of Joslyn Gober, DO, medical director of pediatric rehabilitation medicine at Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.

When he started his inpatient stay, Kevin was immobile, unable to speak or communicate, and required maximum assistance to perform everyday tasks. Thanks to his family’s support and work with Lynn Rehabilitation Center’s Kyle Zreibe, pediatric physical therapist, Kiara Cespedes, pediatric occupational therapist, and Brenda Coba, pediatric speech therapist, Kevin has improved significantly. He has regained use of his left side and voluntarily does activities with his left hand, can communicate with technologies like tablets and keyboards, and went from exclusively eating via a GI tube to following a mechanical soft diet and feeding himself.

“Ileana is a great advocate for her child. She is top notch when it comes to advocating and asking the right questions,” said Zreibe and Cespedes. “She really pushed to get him whatever he needed, and she definitely deserves a lot of the credit for his improvement.”
Kevin was discharged from Holtz Children’s in December 2023, and has continued to receive outpatient therapy with his team at Lynn Rehabilitation Center.

“I owe my son’s life to the team at Jackson,” Matos said. “I will never tire of thanking them for being so insistent with his care and saving his life. I have no words to thank the therapists at Lynn Rehabilitation Center and care teams at Holtz Children’s for everything they’ve done.”

By: Miranda Torres

By the time Sheli Cataleya Gutierrez blew out the candles on her second birthday cake, she had already faced a grim diagnosis, survived two cardiac arrests, and found herself on the list for a heart transplant. The toddler’s family knew there was only place where their daughter would have a fighting chance: Holtz Children’s Hospital.Sheli was 1 when she arrived at Holtz Children’s emergency room, where she presented with acute respiratory symptoms. During the visit, the pediatric cardiac team performed an echocardiogram, which showed a severely dilated left atrium – a lack of function in one of the four chambers of the heart. In order to figure out the severity of Sheli’s condition, the family was referred to Holtz Children’s outpatient cardiac clinic.

A month later, in January of 2023, Paolo Rusconi, MD, director of pediatric heart failure and transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute, and director of the Holtz Children’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, performed another echocardiogram, which led him to diagnose Sheli with restrictive cardiomyopathy – a rare condition that causes the chambers of the heart to stiffen, become enlarged, and fail to relax properly, affecting its overall functionality.

During an evaluation on her second birthday, Sheli’s heart suddenly stopped beating.

“It was heartbreaking, but she was so strong,” said Sheli Galvin, her mother. “We were so scared we were going to lose her, but she overcame.”

With no medication currently in existence to treat the condition long-term, and the potential for liver and kidney failure, Sheli’s diagnosis meant a heart transplant was inevitable. Following her cardiac arrest, the pediatric cardiac care team followed her on an outpatient basis while she waited for a transplant. In January, she came down with rhinovirus and pneumonia, landing her back in the hospital. While admitted, Sheli underwent a second cardiac arrest. It took her care team more than an hour to resuscitate her, and resulted in Sheli being moved up on the heart transplant list.

Once she was resuscitated, Sheli was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator, or ECMO, which takes over the function of the heart and lungs when the organs can no longer support themselves. Rather than using standard ECMO cannulas, the team used Berlin Heart cannulas, allowing Sheli to remain mobile and alert.

For the first time in Holtz Children’s history, a pediatric patient on ECMO was able to be awake, active, and mouth-fed rather than sedated. This revolutionary technique also made Sheli a better candidate for a heart transplant since she was able to receive physical and occupational therapies, and was given less opioids and sedatives.

Her ECMO team was led by Desiree Machado, MD, director of the ECMO program at Holtz Children’s, Jennifer C. Munoz Pareja, MD, interim section chief for Holtz Children’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, as well as the perfusionists team.

After 40 days on ECMO, Sheli’s parents received the call that a heart donor had been found.

“We felt overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness to God for giving our daughter a second chance at life,” Galvin said.

Led by Sandeep Sainathan, MD, a UHealth Jackson Children’s Care pediatric cardiothoracic and congenital cardiac surgeon at Holtz Children’s, and Leonardo Mulinari, MD, Holtz Children’s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery, Sheli underwent her transplant, with the donor heart working immediately.

“She had all of the signs to not have a good outcome, but despite all that, she overcame,” Dr. Sainathan said. “We did a very unique ventricular assist device by using the Berlin Heart cannulas with ECMO, which is one of the reasons she was able to have high quality support, recover well, and get the transplant.”

Now, Sheli has recovered quickly and rang in her third birthday with a new lease on life.

“This little girl is meant for something very big because she’s a little warrior,” said Maylene Gonzalez, surgery coordinator for pediatric cardiac transplant at Holtz Children’s. “The fact that she tolerated ECMO for such a long time and has no lingering major effects to her health is incredible.”

A lifesaving liver transplant gives 16-month-old Danilia a second chance at life.

When Danilia “Amor” Aquino was born prematurely at 26 weeks in Orlando on August 26, 2019, she was showing early signs of liver disease. Two months later – at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – she was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare, genetic, life-threatening liver disease that only appears in infants.

The medical team at Danilia’s local hospital performed the Kasai procedure – considered one of the most effective treatments of this disease – in which any problematic bile ducts outside the liver are removed, and the small intestine is attached to the liver. Unfortunately, the procedure was unsuccessful.

Danilia began to have complications and was intubated for 54 days. Her parents turned to their trusted gastrointestinal (GI) doctor in Orlando who advised the family to have Danilia evaluated for a transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), a joint program between Jackson Health System and UHealth – the University of Miami Health System.

“None of our children have had any medical conditions,” said Danilia’s mother, Jennifer Cotto. “On top of the stresses of our sick newborn, the pandemic had just begun, and her father and I were getting married February 2020.”

At the beginning of 2020, the family met with Jennifer Garcia, MD, the Miami Transplant Institute’s medical director of pediatric transplant services. Danilia’s parents instantly connected with Dr. Garcia and the medical team, who had experience with these complex cases at MTI, the largest transplant center in the nation for the second year in a row, and among the top six for pediatric liver transplants.

“Danilia was extremely small (8.8 pounds) and undernourished as a result of not only her liver disease but her prematurity and bowel complications following her Kasai,” said Dr. Garcia. “She needed Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) – a procedure where fluids are given intravenously to provide her with the nutrients her body would need, in hopes that this would increase her chances for transplant candidacy.”

The family returned home with their newborn daughter just nine days before their wedding – a meaningful moment for them that they were able to share as a family.

Shortly after, Danilia experienced aggressive gastrointestinal bleed, common in patients of biliary atresia and liver failure. Danilia and her father were immediately airlifted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. Once she arrived, Asumthia Jeyapalan, DO, a University of Miami Health System pediatric critical care physician at Holtz Children’s, would join a multidisciplinary medical team to care for her. The team included doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists from transplant, intensive care, infection control, ear, nose and throat, nephrology, and neurosurgery.

“With COVID-19, we were facing many restrictions, and we were worried what would happen if a transplant patient would get the virus. There were so many unknowns,” said Dr. Jeyapalan. “Are we going to find a donor? From the ICU perspective, we needed to make sure she was going to tolerate transplant surgery.”

At Holtz Children’s, the approach is to practice family-centered care, which allowed the family to develop strong relationships with the medical team caring for their daughter. They also were an integral part of Danilia’s recovery, working closely with support departments in the hospital, including Child Life and Music Therapy.

“I think our entire team would agree that Danilia has shown incredible resilience and strength through the many life-threatening medical hurdles she has faced,” said Amanda Alladin, MD, a University of Miami Health System pediatric critical care physician in the Holtz Children’s PICU. “Her parents have been steadfastly at her side and have been true members of Danilia’s interdisciplinary team and we have tremendous respect and admiration for them as a family.”

During Danilia’s time in the intensive care unit at Holtz Children’s, her mother and father rotated shifts to always have a parent with her. In the span of a few short weeks, she faced infections, septic episodes, intubation, was on an oscillator, and needed dialysis for her kidneys – all situations that limited her chances of transplantation.

Eventually, she was listed on the national transplant list in April 2020.

But shortly after, she became extremely ill. Her chance of survival was less than 72 hours.

“That was difficult to hear,” recalls her father. “I spent the whole night holding her, as I cried, not knowing if she was going to make it.”

On June 16, just when her family began to lose hope, Danilia’s parents received the lifesaving call that a liver was available for their daughter.

“The nurse on shift and I hugged and cried. It was so amazing,” said her mother. “She was prepared for surgery, but we knew she was so sick going into transplant, that there was a chance she wouldn’t survive.”

She was in multi-organ failure before the transplant: her intestines were not working. Still, the MTI team took a chance on her.

Her liver transplant took place the next day, led by UHealth transplant surgeons Rodrigo Vianna, MD, PhD, director, Miami Transplant Institute and chief of liver, intestinal, and multivisceral transplant; Akin Tekin, MD, UHealth’s liver, intestinal and multivisceral surgeon; and Gennaro Selvaggi, MD, FACS, UHealth transplant surgeon.

After the 12-hour surgery, Danilia’s kidneys began to fail. Her family was devastated at the thought of another transplant.

Upon further evaluation, her medical team switched Danilia off her dialysis machine to a smaller machine meant for babies of her size. Though recovery was slow, Danilia got taken off dialysis 12 days before Christmas. The family considered this a “Christmas miracle.”

The recovery was slow, but Danilia’s kidneys began to function perfectly, she began breathing on her own, her nutrition improved, and her neurological development continued to maintain itself.

After 10 long months in the hospital, Danilia was finally ready to go home.

“She’s a miracle who has had to overcome many medical hurdles in her young life,” said
Jayanthi Chandar, MD, UHealth pediatric kidney transplant physician. “Seeing her go home is so heart-warming. Kudos to the parents whose optimism and perseverance played a big role in Danilia’s recovery.”

Upon discharge, 16-month-old Danilia received receive a special surprise visit from Mickey and Minnie Mouse outside of Holtz Children’s – signaling her return to their shared hometown in Orlando.

“She’s our miracle! We often questioned whether we were in the right place and if we were getting the care we needed,” Cotto said. “But today proves we were exactly where we needed to be.”

For pictures, interviews, and b-roll, visit https://bit.ly/3ooHa4M

Nicole Hannah-Edgecomb was 24 weeks pregnant with her second child when she went to see her obstetrician for a checkup. An ultrasound had already revealed that her baby had fluid around the heart. Four weeks later, another ultrasound showed a large mass was now covering the baby’s heart.

“At that point, my doctor realized the severity of my baby’s case,” Nicole said. “I was sent to another hospital to receive treatment, but that hospital, too, couldn’t handle my case. I was told my only hope was Jackson Memorial Hospital.”

At 29 weeks, Nicole was transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she began receiving care from Salih Yasin, MD, UHealth – University of Miami Health System obstetrician/gynecologist, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies and the delivery of multiple babies.

Two weeks later, a multidisciplinary team of UHealth doctors and Jackson nurses prepared for a complex surgery to save the baby at Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. On February 23, doctors performed a Cesarean section and delivered Symphony Harmony Edgecomb, a four-pound, four-ounce baby girl.

Immediately following the delivery, and in the same operating room, Eliot Rosenkranz, MD, a UHealth pediatric cardiac surgeon at Holtz Children’s, and his team performed an ex utero intrapartum treatment, also call an EXIT procedure, in which they opened the baby’s chest while she was still attached to her mother’s placenta.

The placenta provided Symphony with oxygenated blood from her mother, while doctors removed the fluid around her heart. They also removed the plum-size teratoma, or tumor, covering the heart, and immediately placed a tracheostomy tube to help her breathe. The tumor was crushing both of her lungs, which would have made survival outside the womb impossible.

Immediately following the two-hour surgery, Symphony was moved to Holtz Children’s pediatric intensive care unit. After one week there, she was transferred to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where she received care for four months.

“It was somewhat traumatizing. She’s so precious,” Nicole said. “I never thought I could get through something like this. I am so thankful for these doctors for everything they did.”

Nicole and her husband, Steven Edgecomb, say their faith and support from family and friends kept them strong.

“This child is a miracle baby. She is so special. She’s here for a reason,” Steven said. “These doctors worked around the clock. They treated her like it was their child they were trying to save. We appreciate that.”

After four months in the NICU at Holtz Children’s, Symphony went home on just in time for Father’s Day. Her parents were so excited to bring her home and introduce her to her big brother, 18-month-old Jeremiah.

“We wanted everyone to know about Symphony’s case, especially other parents going through the same thing,” Steven said. “Our child could have died in the womb. If you have a special case, a special need, Jackson is the place to go.”

In February 2014, Ivanna Cardenas Gutierrez was excited to learn that she was going to be a mom. When she and her husband, David Gutierrez, went to the doctor to confirm her pregnancy, they received an unexpected surprise.

“The doctor said we were having twins – and I was shocked,” David Gutierrez said. “Then, he said there were three babies. Two minutes later, he said there was a fourth. I was speechless.”

The couple conceived quadruplets naturally, an extremely rare occurrence that happens in just 1 in 700,000 pregnancies. Approximately 90 percent of quadruplets are conceived with the assistance of medical technology.

Ivanna, 27, turned to Salih Yasin, M.D., a University of Miami/Jackson obstetrician/gynecologist who specializes in high-risk pregnancies and the delivery of multiples, to care for her throughout the pregnancy.

The pregnancy was going smoothly and Ivanna was feeling great when she went in for her 27 week check-up. But tests revealed that one of the babies was not getting enough nutrients and was at risk of dying. A decision was made to deliver all of the babies that day, August 18, 2014 – three months earlier than their November 15 due date.

A multidisciplinary team of specialists, including doctors to care for Ivanna, and neonatologists to care for the newborns, staffed the operating room at Jackson Memorial Hospital for the emergency Cesarean section. In less than two minutes, Dr. Yasin delivered three boys and one girl—Julian, Sebastian, Gabriel, and Francesca. Julian, the largest, weighed 2 pounds, 3 ounces, while Gabriel, the smallest, weighed 1 pound, 3 ounces.

The babies were under the care of a team of neonatologists at the Schatzi Kassal Project: New Born Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Holtz Children’s Hospital, where they continued to grow and get stronger until they all came home.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs, but we have gotten through it,” Ivanna said. “We know how blessed we are.”

When 6-year-old Victoria Bermudez came down with a low-grade fever, her mother, Judith Ferrer, did what most parents would: gave her Tylenol and Motrin. Over the next few days, Victoria’s fever persisted and she developed a mild cough.

When Judith noticed Victoria was breathing heavily, she took her to an urgent care center, where she tested positive for influenza and strep. While there, Victoria’s breathing got even worse. The doctor called 911 and Victoria was immediately rushed to a nearby emergency room. Over the next four hours, Victoria – a charismatic kindergartner who was previously healthy with no medical history – went into cardiac arrest three times. She was moved into intensive care, where her body went into septic shock, negatively impacting all of the organs in her body.

Victoria’s only chance at survival, her parents were told, was for her to receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a treatment commonly referred to as ECMO, in which a machine takes over the work of the lungs and the heart to allow those organs time to rest and recover. With few hospitals able to offer this advanced and complicated ECMO treatment, Victoria’s parents decided they wanted her moved to Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

“She was perfectly healthy and from one day to the next became so critically ill that many doctors didn’t think she would live,” Judith said. “But our main priority was to get her on ECMO quickly and keep her alive.”

The pediatric transport team from Holtz Children’s – a team composed of physicians, nurses and respiratory technicians specially trained to care for the sickest patients in need of safe and rapid transportation to the hospital – picked up Victoria at the hospital where she was being treated and brought her straight to the pediatric intensive care unit at Holtz Children’s.

Doctors examined Victoria and reiterated to her parents just how dire the situation was. Within hours, Victoria was placed on ECMO, one of only a handful of children and premature babies who receive the treatment each year at Holtz Children’s.

Victoria remained on ECMO for 17 days, intubated and sedated during the treatment. Doctors encountered many obstacles along the way, including severe blood loss that required multiple transfusions and an ischemic foot, in which a lack of adequate arterial blood flow from the heart to the foot cuts off circulation. Victoria’s right foot was so severely damaged that it turned black and risked amputation, but the team of medical professionals at Holtz Children’s – pediatric critical care physicians, surgeons, and highly skilled intensive care nurses – were able to prevent that from happening.

For nearly two months, Victoria remained in the pediatric intensive care unit at Holtz, recovering from the trauma her body underwent. She required the help of a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube for nutrition. Bed-ridden for so long, Victoria also needed daily physical, speech and occupational therapy at Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital to help her walk, regain her strength, feed herself, and talk.

As Victoria was discharged home, doctors said she would make a full recovery.

Judith—who never once left the hospital during Victoria’s illness—credits the medical team from Holtz Children’s with her daughter’s miraculous recovery.

“The medical care at Holtz has been out of this world,” she said. “This is the only place you want to be if something goes wrong – and in life there is always a chance that something might go wrong.”

In March 2014, the Richani family was vacationing in Miami from their native Venezuela when then 4-year-old Salma had trouble walking and complained of severe back pain. Her parents, Dr. Kaled Richani and Elizabeth Richani, brought her to the emergency room at Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

After several tests, they received the worst news of their lives: Salma had neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that affects the nervous system in young children.

“As a family we felt vulnerable, lost, and horrified that our little princess was in danger,” said Salma’s father, Kaled. “The news was devastating because of the uncertainty of not knowing what would be her future.”

Since then, Salma has courageously battled the disease – undergoing dozens of hospitalizations, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant at Holtz Children’s. Through it all, she’s always remained in great spirits with a positive outlook.

“At Jackson, we discovered a home. Salma’s physicians became our friends, but our greatest strength came from the nurses who always had patience and affection when treating our daughter,” Kaled said. “They gave us that peace of mind we sought.”

Throughout Salma’s treatment, her family was always by her side. Her father would wake her up every morning with music, something that always made her smile.

Salma’s parents recorded a video of their daughter singing and dancing to her favorite song, “Volví a Nacer” – “I am reborn” – by Colombian superstar, Carlos Vives. The video went viral and was shared by thousands on the Internet. It even caught the attention of Vives. The singer visited Salma at Holtz Children’s and invited her to attend one of his concerts, in which she was astounded when he asked her on stage to sing with him.

Salma captivated the hearts of all those who crossed her path. She also received countless messages through social media using the hashtag, #Love4Salma.

As Salma completed her last round of treatment, her parents planned a surprise flash mob to greet her as soon as she left the hospital. Nearly 100 people participated, including members of the local community, Salma’s caregivers from Holtz Children’s, her family, and friends.

“I wanted to show her with this token of love that she would not return to the hospital to sleep, that there were no more immunotherapies, transplant operations, everything was over,” Kaled said. “Coming to the end of her hospitalization was a great victory.”

Click here to watch video footage from the flash mob event.