Before facial reconstruction surgery

After Reconstruction- Claudia played a mouse in Cinderella!

Claudia was accompanied by ORD Flight Attendant Anne Tepe from CVG to CDG and ASF escort Sylvie Paillieux from CDG home to Cotonou.  Sylvie was also the escort who brought her to CDG from her homeland and she could hardly believe Claudia’s dramatic transformation.

Dear Team Claudia,

After eight months in Cincinnati and multiple facial reconstructive surgeries, Claudia safely returned home to Benin and is reunited with her family! During her final weeks in the US, she participated in the school play “Cinderella” in the role of a mouse, went ice skating, and performed many songs and dances with her host sister. Perhaps most exciting, though, she celebrated her “fake” birthday! Her birthday isn’t until August, but one of her wishes was to have a birthday party since she observed the tradition on her host siblings’ birthdays. Her host family invited their friends and extended family for the celebration. In the attached picture you can see her cake adorned with her favorite Disney characters, Moana and Elsa.

Claudia’s long journey home was uneventful and late Sunday night she was greeted at the airport by friends and family. Her mother, happy to see her daughter healthy, expressed her gratitude saying, “Thank you for saving my daughter’s life.”

Childspring extends our deepest appreciation to “Team Claudia” who was instrumental in making this life-saving opportunity possible for her.

All my best, Annie Gauf

CLT flight attendant Kathleen Haas just brought Baby Timothy from Minsk, Belarus to Grand Rapids where he will have donated cardiac surgery. While in Minsk, Kathleen, who is also an RN, stayed in the baby’s home so they could become more familiar with each other.

Danielle deBeauffort also recently accompanied Edin, age 15 from SAP to MIA. Edin, a burn patient,  was enroute to BOS for treatment for his severe burns. We had to replace an escort at the last minute who was scheduled to accompany him to BOS and were unable to find a replacement escort for the last leg of his trip so Danielle waited at the BOS gate until after his flight departed. His host mom in BOS called to let us know when she met him and all was well. Having to replace an escort two days before departure is something we never want to have to do and fortunately, it seldom happens. It was a bit upsetting to Edin, also, because it was his first airplane ride, first time leaving his family, and he speaks no English. Kudos to Danielle who quickly volunteered to accompany him up to MIA and saved the day for us. She was only off one day so was unable to continue on to BOS with him.”