A 4-year-old girl from New Mexico was paralyzed after being diagnosed with a spinal disease as a result of COVID-19, which left her hospitalized for eight months.
Stella Martin was rushed to the San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, in April 2020 after running to her mother, Cassandra Yazzie, complaining of back pain, KOAT reported.
Yazzie told the station that his daughter suddenly “went limp” in his arms.
Stella was quickly flown to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was diagnosed with COVID-19 and then with acute transverse myelitis, her mother said.
The disease is classified as an acute inflammation of gray and white matter in one or more adjacent segments of the spinal cord, according to the Merck Manual.
UNMH doctors said this was the first case of acute transverse myelitis in a child they saw in the hospital.
Dr. Barry Ramo told KOAT that COVID-19 is known to cause a hyperimmune response in children and that it may be responsible for inflammation in Stella’s spinal cord.
Stella spent five months at UNM and another three months at Carrie Tingley Hospital, KOAT reported.
On Monday, she received a round of applause from the medical team when she finally made it home.
“I am very grateful to UNM staff, doctors, bosses, nurses. They did a lot for Stella. We thank all of them, ”said Yazzie to KOAT.
“Every person there, she says she loves them, she checks the staff. When they came in, she asked, ‘Are you okay?’ She calls them friends, ”he added.
Tragically, while the girl was hospitalized, her father died of COVID-19, according to the outlet.
“I miss my dad,” said Stella to KOAT.
Her mother said the doctors told her that Stella was unlikely to recover, but noted that her mobility has already improved and that she can move her arms a little.
“I just want everyone to be safe, not to take COVID lightly, because it is affecting my daughter in a big way,” Yazzie told KOAT.