Real Magic

Ione Losander




Luna and Ione after surgery

As many of you already know, this week brought news of a brand new baby girl into the world. Dirk and Luna Losander welcomed Baby Ione less than a week ago. Imagine their shock when they were informed that Ione needed to have immediate heart surgery. Imagine their greater shock when they learned that their health insurance provider would not cover this life-saving emergency procedure!! When I spoke to Losander this week after hearing the news, my stomach was in knots. Being a father of four myself, I could not possibly imagine what Dirk and Luna were going through. But I knew that the magic community had to do something. And do something, we did!!!

Many friends of the Losanders, including the cast of the World's Greatest Magic Show in Las Vegas began sending out emails in calls for help. We immediately sent out a letter of our own on Monday asking for donations to help the Losanders in their dire time of need. I cannot express my shock and grattitude for the immediate generosity shown by many of you. Within minutes of sending out the letter, donations began to pour in from all over the world!!! I'm excited to say that within a span of 48 hours, you have helped to raise over $5100.00 in donations, all of which go directly to the Losander family!

To donate, simply go to the special Help Ione Losander category, located HERE.

We've also put up a special auction page devoted to help cover the cost of Ione's surgery. Many of our personal friends, friends like Paul Romhany, Gerald Kirchner, Sean and Rebecca Bogunia, Jim Rosenbaum and Jeff Ezell have all dug down deep and generously donated the items for the auction. Again, 100% of the proceeds received from this auction will go directly to the Losander family, and we thank you for all your support. You can see the auction page HERE.

What a great brotherhood we have to see how you all have rallied to help is truly humbling, and I am extremely proud to be a part of this fraternity of magicians. This is what it's all about, and you all have gone above and beyond. The baby has now gone home today with Mom and Dad, and below is a letter from Losander and Luna:

Dear Friends,

Once again we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your prayers and good wishes and generous contributions to our baby girl Ione. Thanks to all of you and the entire magic community as a whole, we were able to expediently get her surgery on Monday. She came through it great and the procedure was, as far as they can see, a success! We have her home today and she is doing very well.

We had an excellent surgical team and the Doctor was first rate and everyone was so kind and helpful. It was an amazingly positive experience. I think all our energies combined may have had something to do with that! Now what's next is a series of follow ups and constant monitoring to ensure that the heart continues to function correctly and nothing else develops as she grows. It was great that we were able to do this as quickly as we did as there was a tremendous amount of pressure on her heart and it could of given out without notice, at least now she is not at risk of sudden death.

The costs are considerable and with no hope of getting her coverage now or in the future due to a pre-existing condition, the medical expenses will continue for a while but we are optimistic and with friends like you, I know we will be OK. You can go to the website www.helpione.com for updates and new photos whenever you like.

We love you all!

In gratitude,

LUNA & DIRK LOSANDER

So what began as a possible heart-wrenching story has turned into a success! Again, many thanks to all of you for your donations, support, prayers, and beautiful words. From my family to yours, I wish you a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend.

Until next time,

Paul