For Give 716 Day, we are raising funds to provide a comfortable and supportive home away from home for guests like Amy & Skyler Jessup, seen here on the front porch of our Russell J. Salvatore Hospitality House! Amy traveled from four hours away to visit Skyler for Mother’s Day this year and participated in our Family in Focus photoshoot. They paid it forward for future guests, as they stayed with us 2021-22 during Skyler’s treatment.
In March 2021, just one month after turning 21, Skyler was in his junior year at Niagara University when he suffered what he thought was a concussion. However, a CT Scan determined it to be an AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation) in the vermis cerebellum of Skyler’s brain that had leaked blood. He was quickly admitted to Buffalo General Medical Center for emergency procedures.
His mother, Amy resides four hours away in Glenville, NY and suddenly had to process dealing with the stress of her college-age son’s illness, travel and finding a place to stay while he was hospitalized. After Skyler’s first admission to BGMC, a friend from their hometown church told them to contact KGH for future stays. This friend is no stranger to KGH, as Corlin Bauhofer was a former guest during her late husband Joe’s treatment. Both are pictured below with former Sabres captain, Jack Eichel at the house.
Amy said, “The KGH facilities are so welcoming and feel like home. The homemade food provided for the dinners is wonderful and the staff is very caring and comforting.”
“It has been amazing to be able to stay at KGH the night before those pre-dawn procedures and have family stay there while I was hospitalized. As a hockey player myself, one of my favorite features of the KGH Salvatore House is the Bubble Hockey game in the basement. It’s a tradition that we play no matter how late we arrive!” – Skyler Jessup
