06 Jun Kissed By An Angel
Welcome to Kissed By An Angel – the blog for the Hannah Storm Foundation. Here you will learn more about vascular anomalies and birthmarks, meet our patients, and share their journeys.
Created by award-winning television personality, Hannah Storm, the Hannah Storm Foundation helps raise awareness and fund surgeries for children born with disfiguring and debilitating vascular birthmarks. What are these? Many babies are born with birthmarks and maybe you’ve seen a child with a cute one on their cheek or tummy. While the majority of these birthmarks will be nothing, and in some cases disappear or fade and become less noticeable over time, some children will have a significant vascular birthmark that will require a specialist. For these children, approximately 40,000 in the U.S., parents are often left wondering what to do and who to turn to for help.
This is a cause near and dear to Hannah’s heart as she was born with port-wine stain birthmark over her eyelid and underneath her left eye. While producing a segment for CBS News on birthmarks Hannah met Dr. Milton Waner, the world-renowned expert in vascular anomalies. In this segment Hannah courageously took off her makeup on camera to reveal her birthmark. At that moment, the idea of the Hannah Storm Foundation was born.
Dr. Waner, Hannah and patient, Tingyi
Hannah has since teamed up with Dr. Waner and his staff at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and together they have funded more than 30 surgeries on children from around the world.
As a parent you want nothing but perfection and the best for your child. Meeting so many of these little patients you quickly learn to count your blessings daily. Hannah always tells the story that when her mother first told her about her birthmark she said, “This is where you were kissed by an angel before you were brought to me.” Luckily for so many of these children they have extra angels helping them thanks to people like Dr. Milton Waner – and Hannah Storm.
For more information on the Hannah Storm Foundation please visit the website. And feel free to submit your story for consideration here.