Members of the Reece Raises Hope Foundation held a fundraiser in September to purchase some new medical equipment for sick children in Mid-Missouri.
Organizers surpassed their goal and made a check presentation this morning to hospital officials.
They are buying a new cooling blanket for children that lose a significant amount of oxygen during birth or shortly after birth.
The special blanket reduces brain damage and improves an infant’s chance of normal survival.
When Reece Borst was born, doctors told his parents Bob and Tiffany their son might have brain damage because of a lack of oxygen during birth. A cooling blanket saved the Columbia newborn’s life.
Tiffany Borst said, “There were a lot of miracles such as the miracle of prayer, the miracle of the medical treatment that we got, and the miracle of the therapies that we received later. He is a very healthy, normal three-year-old boy.”
Reece’s family and friends started the Reece Raises Hope Foundation to help other children like Reece. During their second annual fundraiser, they collected $7,700 to buy MU Children’s Hospital a new cooling blanket.
MU Children’s Hospital Dr. John Pardalos said, “There are studies out there that show that babies that suffer hypoxic damage at birth or shortly after birth that if you cool them down during the first 72 hours of life, they have better outcomes.”
MU Children’s Hospital doctors will now have three cooling blankets to help prevent children like Reece from getting cerebral palsy and brain damage.
MU Children’s Hospital Doctors said they use cooling blankets about 5 to 10 times every year.
If you would like to learn more about the Reece Raises Hope Foundation, click on the link below.
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