show them how STRONG to be

The 2016–2017 CMN Champion

Talia Hay is a special young girl showing sick kids how to be strong as the 2016/2017 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals North Dakota Champion.

Talia Hay’s hair is much shorter than it used to be. The strands of dark curls have regrown, covering her head and the scar that now winds its way from above her left ear up and over to the right side of her forehead. You’d never know it was there or that less than nine months ago, Talia was in a helicopter being rushed to Fargo for an emergency craniotomy.

“All I remember is that the doctors said there was a cluster of blood vessels in my brain,” says Talia. “And I could have had them all my life without even knowing, but they just popped.”

Talia had an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, which is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain. And as Talia’s did, these tangles can rupture, causing blood to flow into the brain.

“The school nurse called me at work,” remembers Talia’s dad, Alfonzo. “She said Talia was acting out, and I was like, ‘My daughter?’ That’s just not her. So I’m driving to school when I get another phone call saying that she is in and out of consciousness. At this point I start panicking.”

First responders took Talia to the hospital in Grand Forks where a CT scan discovered the blood on her brain. She was immediately flown to Sanford Children’s in Fargo.

“My wife and I drove to Fargo so Talia got there before we did,” says Alfonzo. “And on the way, the doctors at Sanford called us and said that they needed to do surgery. And we said that was fine. Just do whatever it took to help our daughter.”

Dr. Alexander Drofa, North Dakota’s only endovascular neurosurgeon at the Sanford Brain and Spine Center in Fargo, along with a team of specially trained providers performed the complex and high-risk surgery.

Talia spent a total of 11 days at Sanford Children’s. Many questions had to be answered about her brain function. Could she still feel her toes? Her fingers? Would there be damage to her speech?

“Those 11 days taught us how to pray,” says Michelle, Talia’s mom. “I’m very big on planning but we had to step back and go hour by hour. And any little breakthrough, her first step, the first time she talked, it was a huge accomplishment.”

Because of Dr. Drofa’s expertise and the advanced tools and equipment at Sanford, Talia received the exact care she needed. The center has a dedicated inpatient neurosciences unit, prepared to handle life-threatening conditions like Talia’s.

And because of Talia’s determination to get better, she was chosen as the 2016/2017 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals North Dakota Champion.