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August 22, 2006,
Mesa, Arizona--
September is
national Baby Safety month and local
artist Meg Harper (www.megharper.com)
is opening her heart and auctioning her
art to help a family whose lives have
been forever altered by Shaken Baby
Syndrome. Valley artist, Meg Harper,
will be auctioning a painting on eBay
beginning Friday, September 15th
and ending on Thursday, September 21st.
She will donate 100% of the winning bid
to aid the family of Baby Roan, a local
child who suffered SBS at the hands of a
daycare provider. In addition to aiding
the family with the cost of necessary
therapy for the best possible recovery,
Meg hopes her efforts will “get the
message out there that babies are
fragile and that SBS is rampant in a
world where babies are the only
innocents.” Meg adds, “I know there are
hundreds of other families out there
that have been adversely affected by SBS,
but I hope that in helping Roan and his
family I can make a positive difference;
they need help and they need support.”
In February of
2006, seven month old Roan suffered
life-altering injuries as a result of
Shaken Baby Syndrome at the hands of his
daycare provider. On the day that Roan
was injured his life and the life of his
family were forever changed. In the
months that have followed, Roan, his
parents, his big brother and the
extended family have demonstrated
immeasurable courage, facing new
challenges each day as they navigate
this new reality. Roan spent over a
month in ICU; enduring multiple
surgeries before finally returning home.
Roan’s general health is currently
stable and from the outside he looks
like the brawny, beautiful boy that he
is. When you look closer you notice some
of his injuries. Roan has little to no
sight in his left eye and has partial
paralysis in his right arm. The greatest
damage to Roan, however, is invisible to
the eye. Roan’s Shaken Baby Syndrome
injuries have resulted in damage to
almost every part of his brain. How far
Roan's brain can recover is unknown.
What we do know is that Roan will
require intensive stimulation and
therapy to give his brain the best
opportunity to create new neural
pathways. His mother Christine is
taking a 1 year unpaid leave from work
to give him the extra time and attention
he will need as he continues to
recover.
Every year an
estimated 1,200 - 1,400 children seek
treatment for Shaken Baby Syndrome in
the United States alone. Of these tiny
victims 25 -30% die as a result of their
injuries. The rest will have lifelong
complications. It is likely that many
more babies suffer from the effects of
SBS than those that are documented due
to the typical lack of external evidence
on SBS victims.
For more
information about this opportunity to
help a local family in need of support
visit
www.megharper.com.
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