For Immediate Release
Contact: Sandy McPherson
Phone: (407) 481-2774

CENTRAL FLORIDA CHILD TO REPRESENT FLORIDA AS NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS

March 14, 2006, ORLANDO, FL - Six-year-old Shannon Smowton of Winter Garden will serve as an ambassador for the millions of kids treated each year at children’s hospitals across the country at events this week at Walt Disney World and in Washington D.C.  She was selected as Florida’s 2006 representative in Champions Across America, a national Children’s Miracle Network program presented by CO-OP Network.

Shannon begins her adventure on Wednesday, March 15 when she meets Children’s Miracle Network founders Marie Osmond and John Schneider at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children at 1:30 p.m.  They will travel by limousine to the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World where they will participate in the annual Children’s Miracle Network Celebration convention and broadcast taping.  Following the event, Shannon will travel to Washington D.C. along with other young ambassadors from each state representing their Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.  While in Washington D.C., they will visit Capitol Hill and the White House to communicate the vital role of children’s hospitals to our nation’s leaders. 

As Florida’s ambassador, Shannon will have the opportunity to share her incredible story.  Due to an unsanitary trip to a petting zoo in March 2005, Shannon contracted E. coli resulting in a deadly kidney disease known as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  Upon arrival at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, she was delirious and her intestines were badly inflamed.  After a viscous struggle for survival, the usually fatal stream of bacteria was successfully treated by Shannon’s medical team, saving her life and securing her recovery.

Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals across North America. Participating hospitals in Central Florida are Shands Children's Hospital at the University of Florida and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Money raised through Children's Miracle Network is used to purchase patient care equipment and fund programs and research that benefit more than 250,000 children treated at these two hospitals each year. 

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, supported by the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation, will expand from the current 96-bed facility to a 158-bed facility dedicated exclusively to the needs of children when the new Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies opens in Spring 2006. Located in Orlando, Arnold Palmer Hospital includes comprehensive, specialized programs and services for children including acute care, adolescent medicine, a Congenital Heart Institute in partnership with Miami Children’s Hospital, pediatric intensive care, emergency medicine, nephrology, neurology and trauma services to name a few. To learn more, visit www.arnoldpalmerhospital.org.

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Contact Greater Orlando Children's Miracle Network, 22 West Lake Beauty Drive, Suite 102 - Orlando, FL 32806. Phone: 407-481-2774.