Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo has been like a second home to Francesca Kotowski who has been a patient there since she was just 3 days old. She is now 18 and her mom, Jody, feels extremely blessed to still have her here today.
“When she was born I cried because I thought she would never go to prom. Last year she went to three proms and two homecoming dances,” she said.
Francesca, an ambassador for Children’s Hospital, suffered a brain bleed from having a double ambilical cord wrapped around her. She’s had 25 surgeries since at the hospital she came to know very well. While she will continue to be an ambassador at the new Oishei Children’s Hospital, the move is bittersweet for her and her family.
“It is there that we found joy in our sorrow, laughter in our tears, love in our heartache and a hero in a little girl. We also found a home in a hospital because wherever she was we were home,” said Jody.
Francesca is now living the life doctors never thought she would, playing basketball and winning lots of medals in the Special Olympics. Jody says she owes her daughter’s life to the amazing doctors, nurses, and staff at Children’s Hospital who cared so very much.
