A Green and Gold Alumni benefit game to aid Violet Pantucci will be held on April 8.
Ten-year-old Violet Pantucci was born with lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder.
Ten-year-old Violet Pantucci was born with lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder.
Ten-year-old Violet Pantucci was born with lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder.
WILKES-BARRE – The combined efforts of Pittston Area and Wyoming Area ice hockey team and alumni will hold a Green and Gold Alumni benefit game to aid Violet Pantucci on Saturday, April 8, at 3 p.m. at the Toyota Sportsplex, Wilkes-Barre.
Ten-year-old Pantucci was born with lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder where the surface of the brain is smooth rather than with ridges and folds. Children born with lissencephaly are prone to seizures and respiratory issues. She can have up to 100 seizures per day.
Pantucci is aided daily by her mother Elizabeth, father Run, and brothers Brandon and Matthew.
“We take it one day at a time,” Elizabeth said. “Some days magic happens and everything is good. We cherish those days. Some days we have to find peace and joy in her having just a single moment of magic in the course of a day.”
Pantucci is a fourth grade student at Pittston Area Intermediate Center where she loves to learn everything she can from science to cooking.
She enjoys learning about the world around her. She loves to laugh and be with her family and friends and enjoys going on adventures when she’s feeling well especially spending time at the library.
She also loves creating a fairy garden with lots of flowers every summer as well as taking a therapeutic horseback ride when she’s up to it.
Pantucci and her family have many serious challenges, and she faces uphill battles on a daily basis. Along with her serious seizure control challenges, she has been diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which basically means her seizures are very difficult to control.
She is super sensitive to any temperature environmental changes; going from one temperature to another even slightly can put her into a seizure. Something as simple as the temperature change from the first floor of the house to the second floor of the house can trigger a seizure.
Needless-to-say, Pantucci finds herself spending extensive visits to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on a regular basis. Last fall she spent eight weeks straight at CHOP.
The Green and Gold Alumni game will have raffle baskets and all proceeds of the game will go director to the Violet and her family.
Anyone is willing to donate raffle baskets or make a monetary donation should contact anyone on the Wyoming Area Ice Hockey Board, Billy Romanowski (570-954-9394) or Brittani Shearer Wolsieffer (570-357-9911).
