Happy birthday Mireya!

In Ohio, Mireya celebrated her 6th birthday and is Casey Cares' 120th birthday this year!

Casey Cares knows that for a critically ill child, each birthday is a special milestone celebrating life. For the children in our programs, it not only marks another year, but it also demonstrates a great achievement. Casey Cares staff and volunteers work hard to send out each of our kids a special birthday package through our Birthday Blast program - we send over 1,000 a year. This simple act of kindness delivers joy and hope to our kids who are undergoing treatment.

Heart Warrior

“One day in January of 2022, Mireya was very ill and was so unlike herself. It was the next day that we discovered she was suffering from heart failure. It was one of the worst days of my life,” Bianca, Mireya's mother states.

According to Bianca, Mireya’s diagnosis was “extremely unexpected.”

“The months thereafter only got increasingly worse and so scary up until the day she was blessed with her new heart,” she says.

With Casey Cares

As Mireya waited for an available heart for a transplant while at Cleveland Clinic Children's, Mireya joined Casey Cares. Along with going to a Eagles vs. Browns Preseason game, Mireya's favorite activity was going to Build-A-Bear.

“Mireya is so creative and it was fun being able to take our time and explore all of the different options and remain safe because we were the only ones there,” her mother Bianca states.

Bianca loves that with Casey Cares, “even once a child has been discharged from the hospital, there is still a connection there.”

She continues, “Dealing with chronic illness comes with so many different challenges and this organization does an amazing job of allowing these children to live their lives as normally as they can.”

Fear of the Unknowns

Bianca also acknowledges the challenges that arise as a parent of a critically ill child.

She states, “You are never really prepared for the heightened levels of anxiety every single time they don't feel good or seem to be acting unusual. There is really a fear of the unknown that you don't really think about when you don't have a sick or immuno-compromised child.”

The mother finds that since her daughter’s diagnosis and life post heart transplant, she has seen Mireya improve “by leaps and bounds.”

“If it wasn't for her scars, you would never know what she went through less than a year ago. She is talking, laughing, dancing, and playing like she was the day before she got sick,” Bianca adds.

You can help critically ill children like Mireya - click here!