Holiday Party Brings Smiles to Faces of Children with Craniofacial Conditions

Beau the Beaumont Bear and Santa Claus kicked off a holiday party at the Northwood Shopping Plaza Saturday afternoon for patients of the Ian Jackson Craniofacial & Cleft Palate Clinic at Beaumont Hospital.

More than 50 children, accompanied by their parents and siblings, came to Royal Oak to enjoy pizza, treats, crafts and the music of the Detroit Police Department’s Blue Pigs.

Sterling Heights brothers Hunter, 12, Griffin, 10 and Carson Paul, 5, made snowflake bookmarks with mom Nikki Davies.

Griffin, who is a straight-A student at Roberts Elementary in Shelby Twp., has Goldenhar Syndrome, a congenital birth defect that affects development of the face. He's had multiple surgeries and still has quite a few to go.

"The goal is by the time he is 15 or 16 to be done," said Nikki. She called the holiday party a good way to network and share similar experiences with other parents and children.

"This party is good," said Griffin. "I like being here with other kids like me."

One of the partygoers who is like Griffin is 10-year-old Charlotte Ponce. Charlotte underwent her fifth nasal reconstruction surgery at Beaumont on Friday. After reading about Charlotte in the news, Griffin sent her a letter and was excited to finally meet her in person.

Similarly, Charlotte's mother, Sharon Ponce, read about Ramon Aguilar, 16, of Redford. It was Ramon's story that led Sharon to contact Dr. Kongkrit Chaiyasate, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Beaumont. (Next to Beau and Santa, Chaiyasate had the most request for photos.)

"It's nice to see the doctors out of their element. They are very personable," said Ramon's mother, Angie Atkinson. "And, this party is good for the kids, too. I am hearing a lot of 'Oh, look! He has an ear or a mouth like me!'"