KOAT spoke with 4-year-old Stella Martin and her mother, Cassandra Yazzie, a day after Stella was finally released from the hospital after an 8-month hospitalization.
Yazzie tells KOAT, in April, Stella was playing on the bed when she ran to her mother complaining of back pain, from there she says that the young woman “slapped” in her arms.
Yazzie took Stella to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where she was quickly flown to UNMH.
Doctors diagnosed Stella with COVID-19 and she was soon diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, Yazzie said.
The disease is classified as an acute inflammation of the gray and white matter on one or more segments of the adjacent spinal cord.
Doctors told Yazzie that this was the first COVID case they had seen at UNM in a child.
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Dr. Barry Ramo tells KOAT that COVID-19 is known to cause a hyperimmune response in children, which could be to blame for inflammation in the Stella’s spinal cord.
According to Johns Hopkins Medical Center, one-third of people with transverse myelitis have a complete or near-complete recovery, most of their symptoms disappear. Another third have a fair recovery, retaining some of their symptoms.
Stella spent five months at UNM in the Pediatric ICU, from where 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.
UNMH staff applauded the girl as she left the hospital.
“I’m so grateful to the staff at UNM, doctors, bosses, nurses. They did a lot for Stella. We thank everyone,” Yazzie told KOAT.
She continued to talk about her daughter’s love for those who cared for her.
“Every person there tells them they love them, checks the staff, when they come in, they ask, ‘Are you okay? “She calls all her friends,” she said.
While Stella was in the hospital, Yazzie says the girl’s father died of COVID-19.
“I miss Daddy,” Stella told KOAT.
Stella told KOAT that she wants to ask others to stay home, stay safe, and wear your mask.
Yazzie told KOAT, the doctors told her that Stella was unlikely to recover, but added that her mobility had already improved and that the girl had managed to move her arms a little.
“I just want everyone to stay safe, not take COVID easily, because it affects my daughter in a big way,” Yazzie said.
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