KOAT spoke to 4-year-old Stella Martin and her mother, Cassandra Yazzie, a day after Stella was finally released from hospital after an 8-month hospitalization.
Yazzie tells KOAT in April that Stella was playing in bed when she ran to her mother and complained of back pain, from there she says the young girl became “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 was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis shortly after, Yazzie said.
The disease is classified as an acute inflammation of gray and white matter in one or more adjacent spinal cord segments.
Doctors told Yazzie this was the first COVID-related case they had seen in a child at UNM.
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Dr. Barry Ramo tells KOAT that COVID-19 is known for causing a hyperimmune response in children, which may be the cause of the inflammation in Stella’s spinal cord.
According to the John Hopkins Medical Center, one-third of people with transverse myelitis have a full or near-complete recovery with most of their symptoms resolving. Another third make a reasonable recovery and keep some of their symptoms.
Stella spent five months at UNM in the pediatric ward, then spent another three months at Carrie Tingley Hospital.
On Monday, after eight months away from home, Stella was able to return home.
UNMH staff gave the girl a round of applause as she left the hospital.
“I am so grateful to the UNM staff, the doctors, the supervisors, the nurses. They have done a lot for Stella. We thank them all,” Yazzie told KOAT.
She went on to share her daughter’s love for those who cared about her.
“Every person there, she tells them she loves them, she checks the staff, when they come in she would ask ‘are you okay?’ she calls them all her friends, ”she said.
While Stella was in the hospital, Yazzie says the girl’s father died of COVID-19.
“I miss my dad,” Stella said to KOAT.
Stella told KOAT she wanted to ask others to stay home, stay safe, and wear your mask.
Yazzie told KOAT, doctors told her Stella was unlikely to recover, but she adds that her mobility has already improved and the girl was able to move her arms a bit.
“I just want everyone to stay safe, that I don’t take COVID lightly because it affects my daughter in a big way,” said Yazzie.
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