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The Little Rock FoundationTM

Picture of Little Rocco smiling wearing a yellow shirt with a blue vest. Rocco Nicholas Fiorentino

     The Little Rock Foundation was named after Rocco Fiorentino, who was was born four months premature. He weighed 1½ pounds at birth. He was so under developed that many of his organs developed after he was born.

     Try to imagine a child the size of a ruler, with a head smaller than a baseball. Rocco's skin was so transparent that touching it could actually remove it. His body had to be covered with saran wrap to help maintain his body temperature. His chance of survival was less than 5 %. He was so close to death that his parents took it minute by minute, hour by hour, not day by day. Our painful ordeal continued for four months at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Rocco has endured twelve major surgeries, and has beaten the odds against him.  "A miracle child", is how the hospital staff refers to him now. Remarkably, his only lasting challenge is blindness caused by Retinopathy of Prematurity. 

Beautiful Picture of Sydney dressed in pink that looks like an angel.

Sydney Forman

    Another child who inspired the formation of the Little Rock Foundation is Sydney who is the third daughter of Rick and Donna Forman. Shortly after delivery the doctors came to Donna’s bedside with major concerns about Sydney, from her eyes that wouldn’t open and showed no light reflex, to other developmental issues. All this news was overwhelming. Pediatric tests resulted in the diagnosis of a rare congenital eye disease in both eyes called Sclerocornea which is characterized by a cloudy covering over the cornea. Her only hope for any vision at all was corneal transplants which are very risky and chances for success are low.

     The talented doctors at Wills Eye Hospital performed corneal transplants at 4 and 6 months and five other surgeries including one for a detached retina, and one for glaucoma. While Sydney still has other obstacles to overcome, she shows steady progress with partial vision and a cheerful determination to be the best she can be.