Candela teamed up with New York City dermatologist Roy Geronemus, MD and the Vascular Birthmark Foundation (VBF) to provide 40 free laser treatments to families with all types of vascular birthmarks and anomalies, including one very special patient.

Every year, the VBF conference offers services and education to those in need.  This year, the conference had more than 100 families register and not one was turned away. 

Meet Christian

Christian is 16 months old and lives with his mom, Marjorie in Utah. Christian has a port wine stain on the right side of his face.  After learning about VBF and the conference, and especially that Dr. Geronemus would not be using general anesthesia, Marjorie booked their flights to the conference.  While they lovingly refer to Christian’s port wine stain as his “superhero dot,” Marjorie still feels helpless and saddened from time-to-time by the reactions her son receives from strangers.  After learning about the offerings from VBF and Candela, she finally felt a sense of hope.

Both mother and son attended the VBF conference for the very first time this year (though Christian has received 16 laser treatments to date), where he was able to receive a free Vbeam treatment. Thanks to the conference, Marjorie was able to find support on Facebook and meet other parents experiencing similar worries, concerns and thoughts about their children. She also met a doctor at the conference who will be continuing Christian’s treatment in LA. Marjorie plans on taking Christian back to the VBF conference in a few years when he’s a little older so that he can meet other kids just like him.