For the first time ever in this Country, a Flag will be flying in honor of “National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month”, and I want to thank the Mayor for being so supportive in our fight against Hydrocephalus. Thanks also goes to the Town Council and the Mayor’s staff for putting this event together and making it such a success.

Let me just add something to show how important it is what we are doing. One of our families who helped create the PHF with us, the D’Oria’s, is unable to join us tonight because they are at the hospital with their 17 year old daughter Adrienne, who is having a Hydrocephalus related brain surgery today. It is her 2nd surgery in the last 6 days.

The question is never IF they will have to go to the hospital for yet another surgery, but WHEN. That is the cold hard reality of what these kids and everyone with Hydrocephalus has to deal with. That culture of despair and what this brain condition does to those with it, needs to be changed.

There is so much more that needs to be done. But the accomplishments that we, the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation, have made in just under 2 years is a strong start, and shows a promising future for our children. We went to Congress and a National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month was passed in the United States. We went back to Congress and we now have a request pending for $4.5 MILLION DOLLARS in Federal funding to the NIH to be used specifically for Hydrocephalus Research, thanks to Congressman Lance’s efforts.

As early as fifty years ago, this brain condition was pretty much a death sentence in this Country, and it still is in other Countries. At some point in the past, we all started this journey not even knowing what the heck Hydrocephalus was, and now, working together, one day we are going to defeat it.

So we continue to what we do; for my son Cole Illions, for my little friends Ally Janson, Jeffrey Westdyke, Derek Fischer & Anthony Pascale in New Jersey; Ben & Drake Mantheiy in Pennsylvania; Brandon Thew & Thomas Mingst in New York; Caitlin Minasian in Rhode Island; Ezekiel Spinks in Georgia; Haley Purdy in Kentucky; Ryan Cole in Maryland; Jack Marquis in Connecticut; Justin Walker in California, who is being raised by his grandparents @ 7 years old, and the list goes on and on.