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Longmont parish and school community aid 11-year-old
By Julie Filby
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To Help
Donations: mail to the Riley Ljungdahl Fund, St. Vrain Valley Credit Union, 777 21st Ave., Longmont, CO 80501 Questions: call the school office, 303-776-8760
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Photo provided:Riley Ljungdahl, a fifth-grader at St. John the Baptist School in Longmont, was at softball practice Oct. 6 when she suddenly experienced excruciating pain between her shoulder blades.
The healthy, athletic 11-year-old cried in agony, prompting her coach to call her mother. Concerned mother, Karen Ljungdahl, put her daughter to bed following a dose of Tylenol. In the middle of the night she awoke in unbearable pain, struggling to breathe—then collapsed.
Riley had lost all sensation from the rib cage down.
After three days of tests at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, she was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis (TM)—a neurologic syndrome caused by inflammation of the spinal cord. It was attributed to a reaction from vaccines given six days earlier, within weeks of a strep infection.
Family friend and fellow school parent, Teresa MacPhail, explained TM with an analogy.
“The nerve cells that line the spinal cord have lost their myelin sheath—think of the myelin as the plastic coating on a copper wire,” she said. “(Riley’s) copper wire is fine, but she has no plastic coating—no myelin—in an area about two inches long between her shoulders. … Copper wire short circuits when it’s not insulated.”
One-third of TM patients walk out of the hospital within a week fully recovered; one-third are confined to a wheelchair for life; and one-third leave the hospital in a wheelchair with the hope that they can rebuild their myelin—and strength—through therapy.
Riley’s doctor believes she falls into the last group.
“How far will she recover? We don’t know,” said MacPhail. “We do know that Riley is extremely athletic and determined.”
Riley returned home from the hospital Dec. 2.
Prior to her return, St. John the Baptist School and parish community joined forces to make necessary adjustments to her home including building a ramp, installing a new shower and adjusting plumbing fixtures. Much of the material and labor was donated by school parents and parishioners.
St. John the Baptist students raised money as well by selling sodas, organizing a “jeans day” and hosting a pie auction.
Approximately $1,000 of the $5,000 goal to cover home modifications and future therapy for Riley has been raised; and she is grateful.
“On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank you all very much for your love, charity and support,” she said.
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