It’s Children’s Hospitals Week–Meet our Champions!

We are SO excited for you to meet our 2018 CMN Champions for Sanford Children’s Hospital–Jeren & Jaxon! You might have heard about them on the radio or seen their photos, but they’re now on a mission to help save kids by acting as our ambassadors all year long. Check out their story below and follow Sanford Children’s Miracle Network on Facebook to hear more from the Scheff boys!

Together, we can help the Scheff brothers

Breathing.

For most of us, it is involuntary and taken for granted.

But for Jaxon and Jeren Scheff, the ability to breathe freely would be a precious gift.

These brothers from Montrose, S.D., both suffer the effects of a genetic disorder so rare it has no name. There are no other cases in the world, leaving their parents and doctors with more questions than answers.

For Jaxon, the disorder has caused breathing complications and vision impairment. But for his little brother, Jeren, the troubles have been far more severe.

Jeren was born blind, struggling to breathe. He spent the first 30 days of his life in the Sanford Children’s Boekelheide Neonatal Intensive Care Unit  and has been in and out of the hospital ever since.

“We were close to losing him a few times,” said his mother, Jennifer.

Today, Jeren still has chronic respiratory issues. He can’t be left alone for fear he might stop breathing at any time. He also suffers from regular seizures and night terrors.

With so many challenges and uncertainties, the Scheffs are grateful to have world-class pediatric care, close to home, at Sanford Children’s. Thanks to donors like you, they can lean on an expert medical team to help give Jaxon and Jeren the best quality of life possible.

“They always say it takes a village to raise a child,” said Jennifer. “That’s no lie.”