Variety, the children’s charity of Buffalo & WNY is thrilled to introduce the Celebrity Child for The 64th Annual Variety Kids Telethon…Sully Mettille!
With a smile that can brighten any day, it’s with great excitement that we introduce Sully Mettille, the Celebrity Child for The 64th Annual Variety Kids Telethon.
Sully Mettille was born at 33 weeks on September 23, 2015 at the former Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo weighing three and half pounds alongside his twin sister, Mary who was three pounds.
Due to their early arrival they were admitted to the NICU, with Sully being on a ventilator and Mary requiring additional oxygen. It was a tough start as the Mettille Family also had a two year old daughter, Lizzie at home in addition to needing to be at hospital with the twins. Mary came home on October 6th and Sully a few weeks later on October 26th of 2015.
Around 11 months, Sully’s parents realized that something seemed off and that he required additional care. By his first year he had contracted whooping cough, was choking and had an episode where he turned blue and needed medical attention immediately. After this, Sully’s immune system was weaker and he also started treatment for asthma.
Sully’s official diagnosis is Autism, Apraxia and ADHD.
Everything was coming together and Sully was getting all the necessary help he required. Unfortunately, when the Covid-19 Virus hit, Sully started to regress. As the world was navigating the pandemic, services and every day routines got severely interrupted and created chaos for their family. Sully would sleep all day and could no longer walk. It was discovered that his inhalers were having a negative effect on his immune system as well which lead to adrenal insufficiencies.
Sully has received care for a Developmental Delay, Gross Motor Skills ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Orthopedics, assistance at the Feeding Clinic, Endocrinology, and Dermatology at Oishei Children’s Hospital and The Variety Tent #7 Robert Warner Center for Developmental Pediatrics and Rehabilitation.
Some of the amazing Doctors that have helped Sully in his journey include:
Dr. Andrews- Development Services
Dr. Azaula- Gross Motor Skills
NICU Nurse- Mary Miller
Dr. Zmuda- Pediatrician
Dr. Nagy- ENT Services
Dr. Hassinger – Sleep Medicine
Dr. Wooldridge and Dr. Perez- Pediatric Pulmonology
Dr. Almadhoun- Pediatric Gastroenterology
Dr. Orie- Pediatric Cardiology
Dr. Rothman- Dermatology Care and Treatment
By October 2023, Sully was back on track and was able to get rid of his inhaler, no more tubes and on the path to healing.
We are extremely happy to report that Sully is currently in 4th grade and is thriving in every way. He lives in Buffalo with his parents Claire and Mike, twin sister Mary and older sister, Lizzie.
Some fun facts about Sully include his love for the color blue, he is a member of an adaptive ski program, practices Taekwondo, plays lacrosse, and he plays the violin.
In addition, he is a huge lego fan, loves to play Minecraft, Pokemon and enjoys pringles, kitkats, chocolate chip cookies and pasta to name a few. Sully is a huge Buffalo Bandits fan and loves the Bills, too!
Upon Sully meeting the 2026 Telethon Honorary Chair, Mr. Russell Salvatore, the two instantly bonded and Variety Telethon Chair, Kathy Kaminski arranged for them to have matching suits for the photo shoot, it was quite a magical moment.
Variety is honored to have Sully and his loving family be a part of The 64th Annual Variety Kids Telethon!
The 2026 Telethon will take place Saturday, March 21st, 2026 from 6pm-11pm on WGRZ, Channel 2 AND on Sunday, March 22nd, 2026 from 10am-8pm on WBBZ, Channel 5 as well as streaming online.
We hope you will tune in and join us in helping the kids right here in Buffalo & WNY.
We hope you will tune in and learn more about sweet, Sully!
Please kindly consider making a donation to the Variety Kids Telethon, today!
