A 4-year-old girl from New Mexico is paralyzed after being diagnosed with a disease of the spine as a result of COVID-19, which left her hospitalized for eight months.
Stella Martin was rushed to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, in April 2020 after presenting to her mother, Cassandra Yazzie, complaining of back pain, KOAT reported .
Yazzie told the station that suddenly her daughter “limped” in her arms.
Stella was rushed to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was diagnosed with COVID-19 and then had acute transverse myelitis, her mother said.
The disease is classified as an acute inflammation of white and gray matter in one or more adjacent spinal cord segments, according to the Merck Manual.
UNMH doctors said this was the first case of coronavirus-related acute transverse myelitis in a child they had seen in the hospital.
Dr. Barry Ramo told KOAT that COVID-19 is known to cause a hyperimmune response in children and may be responsible for inflammation of the Stella spinal cord.
Stella spent five months at UNM and another three months at Carrie Tingley Hospital, KOAT reported.
On Monday, he received a round of applause from the medical staff because he was finally able to return home.
“I am very grateful to the UNM staff, to the doctors, to the heads, to the nurses. They have done a lot for Stella. We thank them all, ”Yazzie told KOAT.
“He tells all the people there that he loves them, he checks the staff. When they came in, she would ask, “Are you okay?” She tells all her friends, ”he added.
Tragically, while the girl was hospitalized, her father died of COVID-19, according to the media.
“I miss my dad,” Stella told KOAT.
Her mother said doctors told her it was unlikely Stella would recover, but noted that her mobility has already improved and she may be moving her arms a bit.
“I just want everyone to stay safe, not take COVID lightly, because it affects my daughter to a great extent,” Yazzie told KOAT.