CSF Hour of Hope

Dr. Frank Loth from the University of Akron was the keynote speaker at the Chiari & Syringomyelia Foundation’s Hour of Hope on November 18. Dr. Loth engaged the audience with a presentation about Chiari & syringomyelia, including an update on CM and SM research. In addition, there were individual presentations by graduate students who work with Dr. Loth - Dipankar Biswas, George Poppe, and Nick Shaffer. The three young men discussed their research projects. Dr. Mark Luciano and Dr. Ed Benzel, both from the Cleveland Clinic, were also able to join us this year.

We are happy to have raised over $11,000 this year, with 125 people in attendance. 2009 is the fifth year that this event has taken place and, once again, it was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Twinsburg, Ohio. Event sponsors included Key Bank and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur. We are also grateful for the support that we received from the Twinsburg Hilton Garden Inn, Twinsburg AC Soccer, Twinsburg High School Staff, Twinsburg Dairy Queen and Client Strategy Group.

Dorothy Poppe, CSF’s Executive Director welcomed everyone to the Hour of Hope. Calvin Poznik, age 15, gave a touching discussion as he spoke about what it’s like to live with CM & SM on an everyday basis. He talked about how he never knows when CM & SM will get in the way of his plans, that he has had to deal with head pain 24/7 for over 8 years now, and that he actually was fighting for his life in August of this year when a stent blocked up and shut down his system.

We welcomed back many familiar faces and we were happy to see some new ones. Jake Nees, now an 8th grader at Chamberlin Middle School, was back for his 5th event and he, once again, made a $100 donation out of his own allowance. We also appreciate the support from some of our other young kids in attendance including Matt Andrews and Sean Clunn.

Thanks to everyone who attended and to all those, without whose support and dedication, an event like this would never be possible.