Kids & Family

Mom Says "Thanks" To Children's Healthcare With Inman Park Fundraiser

Little Noah Tanner had a fetal stroke, which left one arm nearly paralyzed and his speech impaired. But Children's Healthcare is giving a little boy a chance.

As a mom, Lauren Tanner knew.

There was something wrong; Noah just wasn't like the other babies.

And like any mom, she went to her doctor to see what was wrong.

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But for months, her son's primary doctor kept dismissing her worries regarding his development.

"It took about six months of me saying something's wrong and finally she gave me a referral to a specialist to shut me up," Tanner, who lives in Marietta, told East Atlanta Patch.

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Cindy Stocklin, a physical therapist at Children's, confirmed last year what a mother's heart already knew: something was wrong with Noah.

"He had a fetal stroke and the tests showed that 20 percent of his brain was damaged and that's when we started the journey we're on," Tanner, who has been blogging about her son's journey, said.

"She was the first person that I saw at Children's Healthcare and she was the first person who validated that there was something wrong and that I wasn't a crazy mother."

It's unknown why Noah had the fetal stroke or if he will have it again.

A year later, Noah, now 1 and 1/2 years old, has been on a journey of physical therapy that has him in better control of his left arm and speech therapy to build the blocks of communication in that part of his brain damaged by the stroke.

He will need to work on his exercises for life to keep that control and to keep the arm from atrophying.

"When he was diagnosed, they didn't know if he would crawl," said Tanner, who also has a seven-year-old son, Carson, with her husband, Seth.

"He's just really come such a long way."

Grateful for the staff and work that Children's has done to help Noah, Tanner is hosting a fundraiser at Thrust Interactive in Inman Park, Aug. 25.

The "When I grow up, I want to be a..." costume party, Tanner said, is her way of saying thank you to Children's for giving her son, and children from all across Georgia, a chance to make their mark on the world.

"I've always wanted to have some sort of charity that we'd give to and have never been passionate about one," Tanner said. "But seeing the staff twice a week for a year — we have friends who work for Children's — just the way they handled the situation."

Her goal for Saturday's Inman Park party is to raise $5,000 for Children's.

"It's such an asset to Georgia's children and it's entirely run by the community," she said. "They never turn a family away."

If you go: The "When I grow up, I want to be a..." costume party and fundraiser for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is scheduled for this Saturday, Aug. 25 at Thrust Interactive, 741 Edgewood Ave. in Inman Park. The party runs from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and you may purchase them or make a donation here.


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