Birthmark Blessings in Niskayuna

There are over 40,000 children born each year with vascular lesions that require medical attention. One woman in our area has devoted her life to helping parents and children find immediate treatment and fight for insurance coverage. Her name is Linda Rozell-Shannon.

Rozell-Shannon speaks with more passion and leadership than any politician, poet or parent I've interviewed. She and her 13 year old daughter live in Niskayuna with an adorable but excitable spaniel-mix pooch. Shannon is the President and Founder of the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (VBF), to be honored on Wednesday by The Montel Williams Show as one of five finalists of the 2007 Voices campaign. Montel sent PilotGirl Productions over for a pre-interview leading up to her debut this Wednesday.

The Foundation was founded in September of 1994, after Linda's new-born daughter, Christine Mary Shannon, was diagnosed with a hemangioma. At that time, there was no website, no comprehensive foundation, and no book for parents on this subject. Since then, she has become known as the world's leading lay expert in the field of such vascular birthmarks as hemangiomas, port wine stains; and venous, lymphatic and arterio-venous malformations.

Rozell-Shannon is not only a mom, author, home-owner and staunch believer in faith, she just earned her Ph.D in Education from Walden University, focusing her dissertation study on vascular birthmarks. She and two of her friends with children that were born with blister-type lesions on their faces (also referred to as strawberries) were interviewed for the show. Montel will award her a $20,000 charitable grant for her organization and ask about how the foundation changes the world of children born with vascular birthmarks for the better. This won't be the only time her work has been recognized. First Lady Laura Bush and Former First Lady and Senator Hillary Clinton have presented awards to her for her tireless community service and contributions to the most misunderstood anomaly in the medical field.