Maxim Charitable Foundation 2006 Recipient
Gianna Riello
Maxim chose five-year-old Gianna Riello as the 2006 Maxim Charitable recipient. Gianna was born with a lethal form of dwarfism called campomelic dysplasia, which affects one in approximately 10,000 individuals, most not surviving longer than a week. The oldest living person with this condition is 29 years old.
The condition caused all of Gianna's bones to be malformed in some way, and her lungs are much smaller than those of a healthy child her own age. Gianna underwent open-heart surgery twice in her first few months of life and has since received several other operations and procedures. With a pacemaker installed in her chest, Gianna has spent most of her young life in and out of doctors' offices. She struggles each day physically as well as verbally.
Gianna is the youngest of seven children, and the entire family has suffered hardships, not only as a result of Gianna's condition, but also due to medical problems within the family. Mrs. Riello and another one of her children both battled cancer and subsequent complications. At one point, due to his need to care for both his wife and Gianna, Mr. Riello lost his job.
The funds that Maxim donated to the family were used to purchase a specially equipped van and other items to ease the Riellos' obstacles in dealing with Gianna's condition.