HSF Patients

Natalia Sardlishvili

Natalia, 2, came to the Hannah Storm Foundation from the Republic of Georgia. She suffers from a large segmental hemangioma over the left part of her face, neck and head. When she was one month old she had an ulceration of her lip, nose, ear and neck.

In Natalia’s country there are no laser treatment options and many of the doctors are not familiar with vascular anomaly conditions. Natalia’s mother originally found the Waner Children’s Foundation through the Internet and through their generous support; Natalia was able to receive laser treatment at the Center of Vascular
Malformations in Children (ZVM) within the Clinic for Pediatric Surgery at St. Joseph Hospital in Berlin, Germany. This yielded automatic results.

Dr. Waner performed an additional two laser surgeries, but Natalia was going to need three more laser treatments, in addition to reconstructive surgery of her nose and lip as a result of the earlier ulceration procedure. With the help of the Waner Children's Vascular Anomaly Foundation, Natalia’s mother then found the Hannah Storm Foundation through the Internet and reached out for support.

Thanks in part to generous supporters of the Hannah Storm Foundation at an annual fundraising event, the Foundation was able to raise money through a special “fund-a-need” to pay for Natalia’s remaining surgeries. She is currently scheduled to receive her first procedure in December 2011.

    • Tingyi Yan

    Tingyi Yan, 2, from China – the first patient of the Hannah Storm Foundation has undergone nine surgeries since 2010. He first came to the Foundation at the age of 6 months and needed multiple surgeries to reduce the redness caused by a Port Wine Stain birthmark on the left side of his face. All of the surgeries have been performed by Dr. Milton Waner at the Vascular Birthmark Institute at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Tingyi is scheduled to have at least two more in the coming year.

    • Tobija Zabret

    Tobija, 9 months, from Kranj, Slovenia – through an affiliation with the Center for Vascular Malformation in Children (ZVM) in Berlin, Germany, Tobija underwent surgery for a Port Wine Stain birthmark on the left side of his face. This type of vascular anomaly is treated using a special laser (pulsed dye laser). Dr. Milton Waner performed multiple surgeries that were funded by the Foundation in 2010.

    • Allison Sciaraffa

    Allison, 7, from Wareham, Massachusetts – worked with the Hannah Storm Foundation for support in funding her last surgery in a series of procedures to remove a partially involuted hemangioma on her lower lip. The surgery was performed in 2010 by Dr. Milton Waner at the Vascular Birthmark Institute at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.