Through the years we've had the pleasure of helping and working with many wonderful families. These families were not afraid of hard work, and kept the faith that their child could improve.

Below are a few letters from our families.

Child improves with Brain-Net when conventional treatments failed
To whom it may concern:

Diana is a 10-year-old suffering from mental retardation. After many years of doing conventional treatments (those covered by insurance), we decided to try some non-conventional treatments. Those treatments included Brain-Net and HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) treatments.

The Lazarus Foundation came through for my Diana when we really needed the funds to help pay for Diana's treatments. If it were not for their help Diana would not have had such an improvement in her eye contact and understanding of conversations going on around her.

While Diana has come a long way over the years, she still has a long way to go. I am sure with the continued help from the Lazarus Foundation our dreams for her future will come true.

Sincerely,
Louann Stanley
Diana's Mom

Family: Lazarus gave us hope, when others didn't

It was great to find someone who felt there was hope - my hope was validated. We finally felt that there was something for Jake when we started the Brain-Net program. The Lazarus Foundation offered the most support we have received, even more than family and friends. The Lazarus Foundation and the Brain-Net have offered our family hope, a feeling of accomplishment and measurements of success.

Donna Armacost
(Mom to Jacob who suffered brain damage from a near drowning when he was 18-months-old).

'Words cannot express' family's gratefulness for the Brain-Net program and Lazarus Foundation
The following letter is from Burwell Stark regarding his daughter Avery. Avery's mother Brooke was in a severe automobile accident when she was 8-months pregnant. The seatbelt cut across Brooke's abdomen so sharply it ruptured Avery's umbilical cord, robbing her of oxygen.

Shortly after Brooke's accident, and after it was apparent that both Brooke and Avery would live, I got on the Internet looking for treatments for brain injured children. Brooke, though still in the hospital, and I agreed that we were going to do whatever we could to help our little girl.

We found the Website for Brain-Net. After contacting them we learned that they came to America through the Lazarus Foundation. We signed up for the program and through the Lazarus Foundation made arrangements to go to Columbia, Pa. to meet with Brain-Net.

Our last trip to Pennsylvania, the foundation met our needs by funding our stay in Pennsylvania. We would not otherwise have been able to come.

Words cannot express how grateful we are to Brain-Net and their assistance with Avery. We have been to see them three times and she has made miraculous improvements. Though we were told she would be in (a vegetative state) and that we should research homes to put her in, she is now creeping and eating solids.

She was blind due to the accident, but now she is beginning to see three-dimensionally. Her hands were clenched tight, but now she is grasping objects and is even bringing them to her mouth. We attribute her healing to God via Brain-Net and the Lazarus Foundation. We cannot thank them enough for what they have done and look forward to working closely with them in the future.

Child's progress far-surpasses doctors' diagnosis
The following testimonial is regarding Quinn Brandon from his parents. Quinn was a happy and healthy 1 ½ year-old child with a severe heart defect. Up until his last surgery his parents report he was very normal in his activities and development levels. During his last operation, he lost blood flow to his brain for an extended period of time and the result was severe brain damage.

As you may or may not know, our son Quinn was helped tremendously over the last couple of years with the efforts of Brain-Net. When Quinn was released from the hospital, following his severe brain damage, after his last surgery, the doctors told us to take him home and spend time with him. They gave us nothing to do and no hope whatsoever. His diagnosis when we took him home was “Chronic Vegetative State.”

The doctors told us that he would eventually deteriorate to a point where he would “forget” how to breathe and inevitably die. We emailed Brain-Net and explained our situation and received an answer in 20-minutes. Brain-Net told us to never give up home and to begin working with Quinn in an effort to “wake-up” his senses. We conversed through email for months and Brain-Net gave us exercises and activities that would help Quinn regain a portion of what was lost.

Quinn has far surpassed what the neurologists have told us to expect from Quinn. Parents who do not have disabled children would never know the pure joy of watching your child laugh out loud after 6-months of silence. These are joys that we have worked very hard to achieve. Quinn by far works the hardest and is a blessing to everyone he meets. I do hope to work more in the future with Brain-Net and the Lazarus Foundation.

God bless you in your efforts to help these children

'Stimulation and movement will help the brain relearn what it has lost'
Cooper's parents report he was a near drowning victim at age 2. He suffered lack of oxygen to the brain following his accident in the family pool. Physicians at the (hospital) listed Cooper as being in a persistive vegetative state with little hope of regaining any physical or cognitive functioning. Cooper joined the Brain-Net program and has shown significant physical and cognitive progress.

At our initial Brain-Net program meeting in July 2000 Cooper could not move on his own and his babbling was limited to a couple of syllables. Now Cooper can creep down a slide and continues to improve. He is using more syllables and has even said “Daddy.” His spatial awareness has improved, and he makes more eye contact.

I would definitely attribute this to Brain-Net. The expansion of Brain-Net to the United States would be wonderful. So many kids out there would benefit from this program. What I have seen from it is awesome and amazing. It all makes sense. Stimulation, movement, etc. will help the brain relearn what it has lost. The Lazarus Foundation is doing great work by hosting Brain-Net when they come to the United States.

--Jeff and Bridget Sommerville

Child overcomes serious brainstem injury to the astonishment of doctors
At age 7, Brian was diagnosed with childhood diabetes and four months later, after suffering from what the doctors thought was the flu, he ended up in the hospital in a diabetic coma. While hospitalized, the doctors endeavored to lower Brian's elevated blood sugar, and in the process, the blood sugar was lowered too quickly and too low. Brian suffered brain swelling and squeezing of the brain stem and his brain literally began to die. Brian joined the Brain-Net team vial email where Keith Pennock gave his parents directions as to how to stimulate his brain through his five senses. Brian has been on the program for three years.

When we first contacted Brain-Net via the internet, Brain was in a persistent vegetative state or coma. We had been told that he wouldn't live and that if he did he would be a vegetable. We were told that only a small portion of Brian's brain stem was keeping him alive. Brain-Net emailed us some directions and we gave Brian his first evaluation from home. Brain-Net also emailed us some activities to stimulate Brian's brain through his five senses.

Brian progressed as we did these exercises and by the time he had his first evaluation seven months after his injury, he was raising his right hand and touching different body parts on command. This was more than the experts had hoped for and they wouldn't believe it till they saw it for themselves. They first were attributing it to Brian's parents' wishful thinking. Previous to this, Brian was considered un-rehabilitatable and there were no rehabilitative services available to him.

We have visited Brain-Net five times now. Each time there has been noted progress and new exercises prescribed for Brian. At this time Brian attends public school full-time and is in regular classroom about 50-percent of the time. The other 50-percent of the time he is in a classroom for children with special needs.

Brian cannot see and has only minimal speech. He earns A's and B's in his regular classroom and enjoys the social activities with his classmates. He walks with help. He is eating on his own after having been fed through a G-tube for over two years. We give the majority of the credit to Brian and his courage of spirit and willingness to work hard toward his own recovery.

--Brian & Maria Connolly

'Brain-Net has answered more questions in one week than the doctors did in 1 ½ years'
Blake is a child who wandered into the family swimming pool area while his mother was preparing his bath. He only was out of her sight for a very short period of time. When the paramedics arrived at the scene, Blake had no pulse for approximately ten minutes until they revived him. Blake had his initial assessment with the Brain-Net program in January 2001. Last year, Blake and his family traveled to Florida and participated in a course of Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy for Blake which as benefited him greatly.

This week the team with Bain-Net answered more questions for us than anyone, including doctors, therapists, etc. have answered in the last 1 ½ years. We now understand our son more and are now more able to help him. We have learned his strong points and his weak points to work on.

We are very excited to be on a program made just for him and to already see a reaction and progress made in one week. We feel confident that by doing this program everyday that he will relearn to function like a well child again… Thanks again for all that you have done for Blake.

This week I feel very comfortable, and I feel that Blake is going to make tremendous progress on the program with lots of hard work. I can't wait until July when we come back so you can see all of his improvements.

Sincerely,
Kevin, Teresa and Blake Shaw

Family feels blessed to have found the Lazarus Foundation and Brain-Net
Following a normal pregnancy and at the beginning of labor, Isabella developed complications and was stillborn. She was resuscitated and placed with her mother who was told that Isabella would not survive the night. She was transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of North Carolina at Raleigh. Isabella survived but with severe Schematic Anoxic Brain Injury. She entered the Brain-Net program in July 2000 and was reassessed in January 2001 showing marked improvement.

This has been the greatest week since the birth of our daughter, Isabella. We feel so blessed to have found you. I now feel Isabella will be on her journey to the best life possible.

Your family gives so much hope and inspiration. Thanks so much for making such a lifetime commitment to brain injured children. We can't wait to get home and begin our program.

With much love,
Brooke, Sam & Isabella Roberts

P.S. We will be spreading the word!

'Because of what we learned we're capable of… rescuing Rafy and bringing him back'
Rafael is a near drowning child who wandered away from home and fell into a lagoon. He sustained severe oxygen loss to the brain resulting in major damage to the brain tissues. His parents took him to the Brain-Net Clinic in Somerset, England in September 2000 to get him into the program earlier rather than waiting until the Brain-Net team returned to the United States. Rafael was reassessed in January 2001. He has begun to show definite progress.

First of all, we want to thank you for all of what we learned this week because now we're capable to work with Rafy in rescuing him and bringing him back.

Since the accident happened this is the first time that we could see the light at the end of the road in a human point of view. We already know that God has been with us since the beginning. Again, thank you for your help.

Rafael Angel, Miguel and Nanette Cruz

Father: Child's incredible progress could make the cover of 'Time Magazine'
Nicholas was born in the back of a taxi cab on the way to the hospital. It was a difficult labor with a very fast delivery. A C-section probably would have been performed under proper hospital conditions. As a result, Nicholas sustained lack of oxygen to the brain. Nicholas joined the Brain-Net program in March of 1998 and has been reassessed every six months since that time. He continues to make significant progress.

This week has brought us increased hope, which has been very hard to come by as of late. We thank you for that. We hope that the progress that Nicholas makes will put him and you on the cover of Time Magazine.

Sincerely,
John Libretti