PALs Founders and Members
Meet the team
Brian Bogert
At age seven, I was run over by a truck and my left arm was severed between my shoulder and elbow. I had 21 reconstructive surgeries and intensive therapy over the next six years. The Phoenix Children's Hospital family was crucial in my recovery and the recovery of my family. Over the past 20 years, I have been very involved in many different programs to help strengthen the hospital. Today I work in the financial services industry and am fully committed to giving back to the place that greatly influenced my life. My goal is to ignite the philanthropic flame in other patient and family alumni of Phoenix Children's.
Tiffany Troidl
When my brother Ty was 7, he spent a summer in the intensive care unit after a series of strokes damaged his brain and paralyzed the left side of his body. Ty struggled to learn to walk, talk, and be all-boy again. A few years later, I heard about a Children’s Advisory Council forming to help the hospital improve family centered care. I got onto the council, serving as a founding member and as the first sibling representative on the Children’s Advisory Council. I secured a second position for siblings on the Council before aging out after four years of service. I continue to give back to the hospital as a manager my brother’s memorial fund. I joined PALs as a founding member and continue to advocate for siblings of patients and family-centered care.
Visit Tiffany's Fundraising Page.
Gabe Trujillo
My experience with Phoenix Children's began at age 14. In September of 1997, I developed pneumonia and had to be air lifted to Phoenix Children's. My health declined and I drifted into a coma. When I awoke, I found out that I lost the ability to move my arms and legs. I spent the next eight months in the hospital before I was released. I have since graduated from ASU in 2006 with a degree in journalism and currently work as a marketing content specialist at an online high school. Even though I am still confined to a wheelchair, I have never let my disability become an excuse. I joined Phoenix Children's PALs to help kids and share my experiences to those in need. I believe it is important that children have a strong foundation of support, both in and out of the hospital.
Visit Gabe's Fundraising Page.
Sarah Maurer
My first encounter with Phoenix Children's Hospital was September 14th 1984 when I was born 10 weeks too early weighing only 3 pounds. I spent the first month of my life in the NICU at Phoenix Children's. My journey with Phoenix Children's did not end there because on the week of my 8th birthday in September 1992 I was diagnosed with a stage IV Wilms tumor that spread everywhere. I went through one year of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. Three abdominal surgeries later, I was cured the week of my 9th birthday in September 1993. I was one of the founding board members of the first children's advisory council in the nation at Phoenix Children's 1995-2003. I volunteered in the 4th floor playroom for several years. I have now reached my goal of becoming a certified Child Life Specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Visit Sarah's Fundraising Page.
