Vann’s 8th Annual Birthday Donation Drive
Vann, Idaho’s 2015 CMN Hospitals Champion, was born at 25 weeks gestation weighing only 1 pound, 13 ounces, making him a “micro preemie.” Within 72 hours in the St. Luke’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Vann was diagnosed with Grade II and Grade III intraventricular hemorrhages, or brain bleeds, and an issue with a blood vessel in his heart. Vann underwent brain surgery and heart surgery in his first two months of life.
After spending 103 days in the NICU, Vann was discharged on his original due date. While this day is special to Vann and his family, his birthday is even more important. Each year since Vann was born, he and his family have collected donations of pajamas and blankets to donate to the littlest babies at St. Luke’s Children’s. The NICU holds a key piece of their hearts – it’s where their little “Vannimal” healed and grew, and it’s where mom Kara now works as a nurse. Vann’s 8th Annual Birthday Donation Drive delivery will take place on his eighth birthday, December 13.