When you see Khloee Hall smile, you would never know that the 12-year-old has been fighting a hard battle for three years.
“From where she started, she has come a long, long way,” said Bernice Guilander, Khloee’s grandmother. “She literally had to relearn everything. They said her brain took a hard hit.”
In August 2015, Khloee was like any other child gearing up for the start of a new school year. She was three days into fourth grade at Jerseyville East Elementary when she started getting terrible headaches.
She was taken to St. Louis Children’s Hospital and diagnosed with viral meningitis. While hospitalized, she had a seizure and spent 10 days in a drug-induced coma.
“We were so blessed and our prayers were answered when she came out of the coma,” Guilander said. “Although she had many issues, the medical team started calling Khloee ‘The Miracle Girl.’ The name followed her during her hospitalization, back home and throughout our community.”
When her recovery progressed, Khloee was transferred to Children’s Hospital’s Neuro Rehabilitation Floor for occupational, physical and speech therapy.
“At first, she had to relearn to walk, how to write cursive, didn’t recognize money or vowels,” Guilander said. “Once she was reintroduced to these things, she bounced back really fast.”
When Khloee was discharged, the family felt blessed that she could continue the rehabilitation process closer to home at Alton Memorial Hospital’s Human Motion Institute, but her insurance only approved 20 visits. It was enough to cover her occupational and physical therapy sessions, but not speech. That’s when her family learned about the Mary Alice McCarthy Fund through Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation.
“She was a great candidate for the fund which provides financial assistance for children to receive therapeutic services,” said Jo Ellen Corona, lead speech pathologist at the Human Motion Institute.
Khloee is one of 50 children this year who have been helped by gifts to the Mary Alice McCarthy Fund. Because of your generosity, they were able to receive the extra help that they needed.
Pictured above: Khloee Hall works with speech pathologist Jo Ellen Corona at Alton Memorial Hospital’s Human Motion Institute.