Meet Taryn: Children's Miracle Network Hospitals® Hero

Taryn entered our world before her eyes were ready to see it.

Born 16 weeks early, she weighed just 1 pound and 8 ounces at birth on October 19, 2015.

Like her eyes, Taryn’s lungs were undeveloped. They fought to breathe until a machine had to do it for her.

“The first few days and then weeks were terrifying,” says her mother, Lizz.

After 99 days in Gundersen’s NICU—2 weeks before she was due—Taryn went home.

She’s our Hero.

A week later, Taryn underwent her first of a dozen surgeries to save her vision from a blinding eye disorder affecting premature infants.

Today, she’s a vibrant and independent kid who mastered a cane and is learning Braille. She befriends anyone lucky enough to meet her.

From her first days struggling to live to today, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals was there. It provided meals for her worried family and gas vouchers so they could get to the hospital.

It also helped fund glasses with a new type of lens invented for Taryn that allows her the clearest vision she could have—technology that allows her to run and play with friends.

“Taryn blossomed after getting her wonderful glasses that CMN helped pay for,” her mother says. “We would not be able to afford the cost of this needed medical equipment without the help of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. CMN is part of our extended family now, and I cannot imagine our life without them.”

Though legally blind, Taryn says her favorite color is glitter. Where others don’t see, Taryn sees a rainbow.

But all we see when we look at her is a Hero.