KOAT spoke to Stella Martin, 4, and her mother, Cassandra Yazzie, the day after Stella was finally discharged from the hospital after a long 8-month hospitalization.
Yazzie tells KOAT in April that Stella was playing in bed when she ran to her mother complaining of back pain, from there she says that the young woman “went limp” in her arms.
Yazzie rushed Stella to the San Juan Regional Medical Center, where she was quickly flown to UNMH.
Doctors diagnosed Stella with COVID-19 and shortly afterwards was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, said Yazzie.
The disease is classified as an acute inflammation of gray and white matter in one or more adjacent segments of the spinal cord.
Doctors told Yazzie that this was the first COVID-related case they saw at UNM in a child.
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Dr. Barry Ramo told KOAT that COVID-19 is known to cause an immune hyper-response in children, which may be responsible for inflammation in Stella’s spinal cord.
According to John Hopkins Medical Center, a third of people with transverse myelitis have a full or almost complete recovery, with most symptoms disappearing. Another third had a reasonable recovery, maintaining some of their symptoms.
Stella spent five months at UNM in the Pediatric ICU, from there she stayed at Carrie Tingley Hospital for another three months.
On Monday, after spending eight months away from home, Stella was able to return home.
The UNMH team gave the girl a round of applause when she left the hospital.
“I am very grateful for the UNM team, the doctors, the bosses, the nurses. They did a lot for Stella. We thank them all,” Yazzie told KOAT.
She went on to speak of her daughter’s love for those who cared for her.
“Each person there, she says she loves them, she checks the staff, when they arrive, she asks ‘are you okay?’ she calls them friends, “she said.
While Stella was in the hospital, Yazzie said the girl’s father died of COVID-19.
“I miss my dad,” Stella told KOAT.
Stella told KOAT that she would like to ask others to stay home, be safe and wear her mask.
Yazzie told KOAT, the doctors told her that Stella was not likely to recover, but she adds that her mobility has already improved and that the girl was able to 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,” said Yazzie.
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