Pediatric Patient Celebrates Momentous Life Event with Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

15-year-old Emily Castillo considers Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital to be like a second home. Due to a liver transplant at a very young age, Emily had to spend much of her childhood in the hospital, and the staff began to feel like family. It was because of this that Emily decided to have her quinceañera pictures taken in the place that had grown to mean so much to her.

“I spent my childhood here,” said Castillo. “So I wanted to have a little piece of it with me for the rest of my life. It’s an experience that I won’t forget.”

A quinceañera is the Latin American celebration of a girl’s fifteenth birthday which marks the transition from childhood to young womanhood. A quinceañera is considered a major moment in a young woman’s life.

Emily’s family was present as she took photos around the hospital in her flowing coral dress. Some of the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Child Life specialists accompanied Emily as she made her way to some of her favorite places on the Campus that held special memories.