AnnualReport2020

National Patient Ambassadors

‘This Is My Moment: The Stories of Cristian and Madelyn,’ Our 2019- 2020 National Patient Ambassadors When our patients share their stories, people can’t help but sit up and listen. Their powerful words illustrate the tremendous impact that Shriners Hospitals for Children has. Every year, our health care system selects two National Patient Ambassadors to represent our patients. The ambassadors spend the year sharing their stories of determination, courage, and effort and the ways Shriners Hospitals for Children has made a tangible, unforgettable difference in their lives. Madelyn and Cristian both made many appearances at Shriners Hospitals for Children locations and national events. At the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, Nevada, they met and inspired professional golfers, families and volunteers. They rode on the Shriners Hospitals for Children float at the Rose Parade and appeared at the East-West Shrine Bowl. Cristian threw out first pitches at a Major League Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks game in Phoenix, Arizona, and a Las Vegas Aviators

Cristian Cristian, who is now 19, was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. In his first two weeks of life, he had two surgeries and went on to have nearly a dozen more. Cristian faced several of the same challenges of many others with spina bifida, including gastro-intestinal system and balance difficulties, as well as complications from various surgeries. A New Hope For several years, Cristian's family had difficulty finding doctors

when Cristian met a Shriner who referred him to Shriners Hospitals for Children. Cristian was 13 when he had the surgery that he says changed his life and gave him hope, at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Los Angeles (now Shriners for Children Medical Center in Pasadena, California). Devoted to his schoolwork and seminary studies as well as his part- time job and playing the cello, Cristian has also been active in supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children.

who understood how to best help him. That all changed one day in 2012,

minor league baseball game. He also helped promote the East-West Shrine Bowl at Brigham Young University,

where he is a student, by attending a football practice and presenting Austin Lee with his invitation to the game.

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