Rayanna’s Radiothon Story

In January of 2018, Rayanna’s family was driving home to Coronation, AB, from Calgary when she started feeling unwell. The illness escalated rapidly – she couldn’t open her right eye. Her parents pulled off the highway and went to the nearest medical facility – the urgent care centre in Airdrie – which called an ambulance to rush Rayanna to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. By time she arrived, she’d lost much of the feeling on the right side of her body. Concerned she might be having a stroke, she was sent for an MRI and CT scan, but nothing showed up. The team began working to rule out a number of other diagnoses, including meningitis and a brain tumour. After several days of tests and specialists working around the clock to figure out what was wrong, they determined Rayanna was suffering from an Influenza A virus that had gone rogue and attacked her central nervous system (CNS). It was an incredibly rare and unexpected diagnosis. 

The attack on her CNS had left Rayanna unable to walk, which was terrifying, as she is a dancer, track star and competitive fastball player. In those initial days, she was terrified about what the illness would mean for her quality of life – would she ever walk again? Play ball again? There was a night where Rayanna’s heart and respiratory rates changed drastically and she distinctly remembers wondering if she would even survive. Her fear changed from her future quality of life to whether she would have a future at all. 

Meanwhile, specialists were treating Rayanna with intravenous immunoglobin and other medications. Eventually she was transferred from intensive care to Unit 3, where she began extensive rehab involving several hours of physio and occupational therapy each day. At first, she was only able to take a couple of steps using crutches, but eventually, with time and support from her team, she learned to walk again. During her month-long stay at the hospital, Rayanna was able to take part in the donor-funded music and art therapy programs, which helped her re-learn to use her right hand and also provided social stimulation. She also got to visit with dogs through the pet therapy program – which was so special as she missed her own pets.

Rayanna was so inspired by her experience, she wanted to give back to the hospital. She raised $3,000 “to help other kids get well like I did.”