Six-year-old Daniela from Romania had her heart healed during our October 2018 Training Visit to Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital (GAH) in Bucharest. Daniela’s family lives in a small city very near Bulgaria and the Black Sea. Her family noticed that she was always tired and not able to keep up with other children her age. They took Daniela to a local hospital for a check up but were told that they could not provide her the necessary care. Her family made the long journey to Bucharest upon hearing that their daughter may be able to receive care at GAH. Daniela was selected as one of 13 children treated during the mission week. Daniela is the 33,000th child to be treated through the Gift of Life Global Network of Caring since 1975.
Rob Raylman is the Chief Executive officer for Gift of Life International. He assumed this role in 2008.
Rob is a life-long resident of New York State. He graduated Hobart College in 1984 with a BS in Political Science. Over the years, he worked for US Senator Alfonse D’Amato and held the position of Vice President for Browning-Ferris Industries (at the time, the second largest international solid waste company in the world). In 2008, Rob created the position of CEO for Gift of Life International. Since then, he was visited 38 countries on 5 continents to build the Gift of Life Global Network of 84 affiliates. During Rob’s tenure with Gift of Life International, 30 affiliates have been created while over 35,000 children have received care for their heart defects.
Rob focuses on strategically building bridges between Gift of Life programs, foreign Governments, Rotary Clubs and Districts, like-minded organizations and hospital administrations in order to address the Global Crisis of congenital heart defects.