Giving Back

Twelve year old Eli Ball of Gurnee,IL spent a lot of time at Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago (now Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago) as a young child. He was born with a condition called Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevus. This is a rare skin condition occurring in 1 in 500,000 births. To remove the skin that could potentially increase his risk of skin cancer, Eli underwent multiple tissue expansion procedures to generate healthy skin to replace the effected skin. These procedures took place over a 5 year period with many follow up surgical visits and yearly dermatologist check ups.

Eli decided he wanted to give back to the Children's Hospital by collecting brand new stuffed animals to help comfort other children impacted by medical issues. He has collected over 140 stuffed animals and will continue to take donations through the end of October. In early November, Eli and his family will meet with a representative from the hospital to deliver the donations. Every single stuffed animal collected will make a difference in the life of a child.