Proud to Be From Pittsburgh

Proud to be from Pittsburgh: Max Cieply and the 'Walk for Children's'

It's all Max Cieply had been talking about for days: getting his very own tour of Channel 11 News.
From the control room to the news desk to even taking a crack at Scott Harbaugh's job.

When max was born, only half his heart worked. He needed spinal surgery, had hearing loss and also required major bowel surgery.

“We knew there was a good chance that we might not be bringing him home,” said his mother, Danielle Cieply.

It was months of agonizing days and nights at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, wondering if their son would be OK.

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Not only did he go home, now he's thriving, and his cardiologist, Dr. Lizabeth Lanford, told Channel 11 he's even working on his red belt in karate.

“If that goes well, he will go for a black belt, something I, who has no medical problems, can't do at all,” she said.

And now, part of max's mission is to pay it forward. That means raising money for the hospital through "Walk for Children's" on June 23.

The walk's goal this year is $1 million.

“We're going to be taking over Schenley Park, so look out, we're going to be in force,” said Amy Rayman, Children's Association director of corporate and community giving. “It's just a really fun day, a celebratory day.”

All the money raised goes to the hospital's departments and services that need it most. It's a tall task that Max's fundraising group, “Team Awesome,” has been tackling for the last several years, raising thousands of dollars.

“Max will even tell you, ‘I want to help all the kids at the hospital that are still there,’” Danielle Sieply said. “You just want to see all these kids get better and go home and get to live the life that we do.”

 

Cox Media Group

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