Every so often, a parent will take a moment out from their time at a hospital to drop us a note to let us know how important the Lion’s Den was to them and their family. We certainly never expect to get these notes, but when they do come in, we cherish them with gusto.

Recently we received a very kind note from Megan Looney – the mother of 2-year-old Jonathan – a patient at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Megan and her husband Jeremy, have three other children, and during Jonathan’s treatments, they made the Lion’s Den their home. With her permission, we share their story this Mother’s Day weekend:

My son Jonathan was inpatient on 5 Childrens at UNC for 5 months.  He is in remission for AML Leukemia.  After the shock of learning our son had cancer, the next big shock was learning he would need to stay in the hospital for the next 5 months, only going home once a month for a week or so.  Our son was about to turn 2 and was, and is, incredibly active.  I should mention that he also has Down Syndrome, and he can’t understand that he has to stay in a hospital room, or can’t play on the floor.  And he has no interest in lying in bed and watching movies like most of his floor-mates.

 What would we have done without the Lions Den??  Usually twice every day, Jonathan played in there.  He could crawl on a clean floor and get his wiggles out.  He learned to walk in there.  Most of his therapy sessions (OT, PT, Speech) were held in there.   In the evenings, my husband and three other children would join us in there for dinner.  It felt almost normal, because we could sit at the table and eat as a family as Jonathan played at our feet. 

 There are not sufficient words that can express to you what a God-send the Lion’s Den was to our family.  We are so very grateful to you and every person who made that project possible.  Having a room like that helped us keep our sanity by giving our son a place to be a kid, and do normal things.  It gave us an opportunity to get out of our room when his low counts kept us from going anywhere else.  It was priceless when I could lay down on a clean floor and let my child crawl all over me, just like at home. 

 Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Please pass on my thanks to the appropriate people.

Warmly,

Megan Looney

NHL.com @NHL

 As part of the NHL Centennial Celebration, renowned Canadian artist Tony Harris will paint original portraits of each of the 100 Greatest NHL Players presented by Molson Canadian as chosen by a Blue Ribbon panel. NHL.com will reveal two portraits each Monday in 2017.

This week, the portraits of forwards Pat LaFontaine and Marcel Dionne are unveiled in the 11th installment.LaFontaine, who played eight seasons with the New York Islanders, six with the Buffalo Sabres and one with the New York Rangers, is the fifth-highest United States-born goal scorer in NHL history, with 468 goals in 865 games. 

In his NHL100 profile on LaFontaine, author Kevin Allen says he was an inspiration for American hockey’s greatest generation.

“LaFontaine, a 2003 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, is considered a member of American hockey’s greatest generation, a contemporary of players like Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Bill Guerin, Mike Richter, Keith Tkachuk. But he also served as an inspiration for them because he was establishing himself as an American star when they were at impressionable ages.

When LaFontaine broke into the NHL, Tkachuk was 11, Guerin was 13 and Roenick 14.”

Harris said he was hoping to capture two aspects of LaFontaine’s game in his portrait.  

“I was always fascinated that Pat LaFontaine grew up in the U.S. but came to Quebec to play junior hockey, putting him on the Canadian hockey radar at an early age,” he said. “My hope for this portrait was to demonstrate the agility and speed with which he played.”

CiC Foundation Executive Board member George Ross and his wife, Billie were featured in the Winter 2016-17 of Northwell Health’s GRATITUDE magazine. In addition to funding the Lion’s Den Room at Cohen Children’s Hospital, the couple have been instrumental in the development of other pediatric initiatives at the hospital.

Billie & George Ross

Most recently, the Ross’s fostered the development of the Billie and George Ross Center for Advanced Pediatric Orthopaedics and Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery. This is the only center in New York – and one of the few sites nationwide – to offer minimally invasive scoliosis surgery and house a dedicated team of scoliosis specialists. The center features MAGEC (Magnetic Expansion Control)and is led by two world-renowned experts in pediatric orthopaedic surgery.

Since 2007, The Ross’s have funded critical projects that transformed pediatric care at Cohen Children’s and made the hospital environment less scary for young patients. In addition to the Lion’s Den and the MAGEC initiatives, their investments helped develop the Neonatal Stabilization Unit and Radiology Comfort Care Room. They have also delivered interactive and educational systems to every patient’s bedside and provided two transport vans to assist patients and their caregivers reach the hospital for appointments.

The feature story is included on pages 14 and 15. http://www.onwardpublishing.com/nh/GM2016/