Corewell Health Children's in Southeast Michigan

By providing comprehensive care in more than 30 different pediatric specialties, our physicians, surgeons and nurses offer the most advanced services to more than 240,000 children each year. 

Corewell Health Children’s in Southeast Michigan encompasses three hospitals – Royal Oak, Troy and Dearborn – and includes specialized pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care, pediatric emergency medicine, a Level 4 epilepsy center, minimally invasive pediatric surgery, autism services and more to address the needs of infants, children and teens across the region.  

Corewell Health Children’s is proud to be a member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization that raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals across the U.S. and Canada. All donations to CMN partners stay local, helping kids and families in our communities benefit from most advanced, compassionate care available. 

Soon after birth, Max Majewski’s parents noticed their son had significant muscle weakness and was having feeding difficulties. Soon, he was diagnosed with a range of challenges that no one could piece together. His parents took him to a variety of pediatric specialists to try and uncover the reason for his challenges – a timely and exhaustive process that included genetic panel testing, MRI testing, and endocrinology and neurology visits.

After two years of searching for answers, the Majewskis received a diagnosis from Corewell Health Children’s pediatric geneticist Dr. Stephanie Campbell that showed Max was living with an ultra-rare disease called childhood-onset de novo spastic paraplegia type 4 (SPG4). 

Typically, symptoms of this disease present later in life, but Max’s gene had spontaneously mutated, causing issues from birth. His specific genetic variant – which has been identified in just 23 patients around the world – results in stiffness of the limbs as well as severe difficulties with speech and cognition.

Today, Max attends a special education preschool, where he is developing communication skills with the help of an augmentative and alternative communication device. He also uses ankle-foot orthoses and is learning to navigate a manual wheelchair. 

Max receives physical therapy at school and through Corewell Health Children’s outpatient services. He recently completed his first round of Lokomat robot-assisted therapy to build strength and improve mobility. “He loved walking like a big boy!” said his mother, Liz. 

Max also enjoys horseback therapy and riding his custom Children’s Miracle Network bike. “Max constantly impresses us with his resilience,” Liz said. “He always meets challenges with a smile.”

Thank you to our Children's Miracle Network Hospitals retail partners for supporting Corewell Health Children's!