About me

I was born with multiple birth defects: scoliosis, a deformed left arm, no thumbs, and a deformed left ear.  As a result, I underwent many invasive surgeries as a young child and grew up being exposed to not just the highs but also the lows of life. But luckily I did not have to face these challenges alone, and with the support of my family, friends, and the help of the medical community, I have been fortunate enough to emerge from my difficult childhood experiences as a confident and successful man.

Because of the way I looked growing up, many people assumed that I would be mentally slow and socially unproductive. Knowing full well that this was not the case, I resented the judgement of others but eventually learned to use the chip that formed on my shoulder as a strong driving force in my life. I worked hard and was a honors student in school. I learned to play the piano and earned a spot on both the tennis and soccer teams in high school, going on to teach tennis through university while I pursued my studies.

These early accomplishments were only the beginning for me, and they helped propel me forward into life with the mindset that I could accomplish anything if I put my mind and heart into it. I know from personal experience that I was born into the world with more physical challenges than others, but it is my success in life (and not my challenges) are what have motivated me to give back and help the next generation of children with birth defects, so that they too can grow up with the same strength, determination and opportunities that I had.

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My 2017 mission

Over the next few weeks, several guest contributors and myself will be sharing our experiences/thoughts about growing up or raising a child who is deformed. The purpose of sharing these experiences with you is to give you an appreciation of the physiological and psychological hardships (peoples’ perceptions, insecurities etc.) and/or physical (doing normal everyday tasks) that the affected parent/child may experience. The goal is to provide information and personal stories that will help educate the public about the challenges these children face, and how both healthcare professionals and the public can help. These experiences will be posted weekly in the “Blog” section of this website.

If you feel inspired and want to help, the charity that I am raising money for is the March of Dimes.  Your donations to the March of Dimes will go towards improving the health of both mothers and babies. The March of Dimes will use your donation to fund programs like Prenatal Education and Outreach, Enhance Prenatal Care, Quality Improvement, Health profession education and training, Birth Defect Research and Federal/State Policies.

How can you help?

March of Dimes has provided me with a personal donation site at https://www.marchforbabies.org/SamitGuha where you can donate any amount you would like. Once you have completed the donation, March of Dimes will provide you with a receipt which you can use for your 2017 taxes 🙂

On October 13th 2017, I will also be hosting a charity event at Hudson Hound in New York City at 7:00 pm. At this event, you will see hung on the walls all of the experiences that my several guest contributors and myself have posted on the blog, as well as information provided by the March of Dimes on their programs and statics that they have generated. Hopefully these pieces of information will generate a discussion and encourage you to help out. I will also have my laptop in the room so if you feel inclined you can donate right then and there.

Over the next few months I will be hosting a series of Happy Hours where people can read and learn about birth defects and how people are dealing with it.  Otherwise if you feel charitable you can donate via my March of Dimes charity site!

This fundraising campaign will continue till April 2018 which is when I will walk in the March of Dimes walk in Hartford, CT.

GENEROUS DONORS – $100 AND UP

To help energize this drive, I will gift a bottle of my limited-edition theGuha (2017 Syrah) wine to those who donate over $100 to the March of Dimes.  There are a total of 33 limited release bottles of theGuha wine.  I will keep the number of theGuha bottles that remain available on this website to ensure that you receive a bottle when you donate generously.  On the March of Dimes donation site, I will be able to see who has given a $100 and up donation, and I will therefore coordinate with you to get you the bottle of wine if this applies to your donation.  

Thanks again for your help and I hope you go away with a better appreciation of the hardships of Birth Defects can have on someone and their parents.

Update as of 9/21/17

One week into the charity we have raised $1,794! 12 bottles of 33 of theGuha limited release bottle of wine have been reserved. This has been a great start and hopefully we can continue with the momentum.

Update as of 10/1/17

A couple weeks into the charity we have raised $4,305!  13 bottles left of the 33 of theGuha limited release bottle of wine have been reserved. This has been a great start and hopefully we can continue with the momentum.

Update as of 11/8/17

A two months into the charity we have raised $6,597!  5 bottles left of the 33 of theGuha limited release bottle of wine have been reserved. This has been a great and hopefully we can continue with the momentum.

Update as of 11/13/17

Two months into the charity we have raised $7,106!  All of the bottles the 33 of theGuha limited release bottle of wine have been reserved. This has been a great and hopefully we can continue with the momentum.

We will continue to post personnel blog posts sharing experiences and continue to raise money for March of Dimes.  March of Dimes will help stop children being born with birth defects now I want to do something to help those who were born with defects.  Medical bills can pile up thus making college unattainable.  So I am going to start a college scholarship to help those few that I can.  If you are interested then please get in touch with me.

Blog

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Protecting Children with Pre-Existing Condition from Brandon Lurie

Samit Guha asked that I help out and make some infographics to raise awareness and for use by his charity (theguha.com/) that aims to help children with birth defects. Please share this post if you found the information useful. And yes, Congressman O’Halleran did talk about my son on the House floor during the first …

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Rinee Post

My cousin Rinee Gee has written this blog about her son Markus who was born with Down Syndrome. He may have Down Syndrome but the little guy is full of life and has the smile that will bring a smile to your face. Please read and help if you can. If you wish to donate …

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Previous Fundraising

In 2015 I ran a fundraiser for the March of Dimes by growing my hair out and looking like a fool 🙂   The hair grew out to 10 inch’s which I tried to donated to Locks for Loves…apparently they can’t take grey hairs … ha! this fundraising raised near $6,000 for March of Dimes.  A friends company promised to match our donation to March of Dimes so in total we raised around $12,000.

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