Family Honors Daughter’s Legacy With Gift to Children’s Hospital
May 21, 2024
Megan Schulman spent much of her 23 years raising money to help others. She played for and held leadership roles for her varsity high school soccer and basketball teams in Freehold, New Jersey. In college at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, she helped raise money for the Arthritis Foundation and other philanthropic events as a leader in her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi.
Megan did so because she recognized how lucky she was, says her father, Stu Schulman. Diagnosed as a child with Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome that caused large malformed veins in her right hand, Megan first noticed other kids with vascular anomalies during her first surgical procedure at age 12.
As she walked around the floor where she recovered, she noticed other patients—infants and young children—in other rooms with “terrible vascular anomalies—hemangiomas on their faces and lips—that prevented them from eating,” Stu says. “They had significant problems.”
“We returned to Megan’s room, and she said, ‘I’m the lucky one. I can live my life and can do things. All these kids are suffering. I’m truly the lucky one.’”
Honoring Megan’s Legacy
Megan underwent 14 surgeries in less than 10 years—all to help her manage her health. In 2021, she experienced complications after a surgery to improve blood flow to the main vein in her clavicle. After her untimely death almost a month after the surgery, her family wanted to honor her legacy.
“We started the Megan Schulman Memorial Foundation two days after her passing,” Stu says. “The whole family decided, ‘This kid gave too much to let her be forgotten.’”
With a generous donation from the Foundation, The Megan Schulman Pediatric Vascular Anomalies Clinic at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital began seeing patients in April 2024. “We are building this clinic to be something recognized throughout the state of New Jersey,” Stu says. “If you don’t think big, it’ll never happen. I would like to see this become a major resource for kids in New Jersey to have access to care that they currently don’t have.”
The clinic will help kids with vascular anomalies connect with a care team that can work directly with them on all aspects of their diagnosis. A nurse navigator will help families connect with specialists in oncology, hematology, interventional radiology, vascular and pediatric surgeons, and will help coordinate patient care.
The Megan Schulman Foundation is a family affair: Stu serves as foundation president, his wife and Megan’s mother, Michele Schulman, is vice president, and Megan’s siblings—Jenna, 29, and Tyler, 24—are board members.
Enabling Exceptional, Specialized Pediatric Care
“The gift from the Megan Schulman Memorial Foundation will enable Hackensack Meridian Children's Health to establish the first pediatric vascular anomalies clinic in central New Jersey,” says Ellen Hahn, director of Development for the Children’s Hospital. “We are grateful to the Schulman family for partnering with us to honor Megan’s legacy while helping us provide exceptional specialized care for our most vulnerable patients.”
Every gift helps. To learn more, contact Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation at giving@hmhn.org or 848-308-5000.
Next Steps & Resources
- Fundraise in your community, for your community, and support a hospital or health care cause important to you. Start your virtual fundraiser today.
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