Children's Hospital Lottery 2019: What your support means

Colourful, caring and a natural performer, Anika Gibson-Craig always had a mischievous grin - the world just couldn’t see it.
Anika was born with a rare condition called Poland-Moebius Syndrome that paralyzed half of her face. Two of her nerves didn’t work as they should. She couldn’t move her eyebrows. She was unable to smile.
Having the Alberta Children’s Hospital right in her own backyard meant Anika was able to benefit from world-class care, and from an early age she’s received specialized treatment for other symptoms of her condition. While it wasn’t always easy, Anika maintained a positive outlook.
“Like a lot of kids who go to the Alberta Children’s Hospital, my physical differences make me stand out in a crowd,” says Anika. “I don’t always mind. Sometimes smaller kids want to know why I have a little hand and they want to touch it and learn about it. I can easily put my hand in my pocket if I get tired of all the attention. With my face it was different.”
Thanks to a highly intricate “facial reanimation” operation performed by plastic surgeons at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the world can finally see her smile.
Community support through the Children’s Hospital Lottery helps ensure experts at the Alberta Children’s Hospital stay on the cutting edge.
This year’s lottery will benefit thousands of kids like Anika by providing the surgical team with a powerful, high-definition operating microscope equipped with better lighting, advanced optics and weightless movement that will allow surgeons to do their most intricate work.
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