H1N1 Triggers Brain Damage In 10-Year-Old Girl

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Back in October of 2009, Abby Toll appeared to be a perfectly healthy 9-year-old, but after coming down with H1N1, Abby, now 10, can barely walk without a walker. CBS 2′s Mai Martinez reports Abby says that’s the scariest feeling.

“I can’t walk from here to there without falling or tripping. It’s just, I’m scared,” she said, following a checkup at UIC.

Abby’s parents Rianne and Jeff Toll are just as scared.

“We’re not really sure what’s going on. It’s the hearing loss. Now there’s a peripheral issue. She can’t see peripherally. Her grip’s a lot worse. She has no reflexes at all in her legs,” said Jeff Toll, as he clutched his wife’s hand.

Abby’s doctors at UIC say H1N1 triggered a dormant condition in Abby which likely would not have come out until much later in her life.

“Abby has Ataxia, so what you’re seeing is, it’s caused by damage to a part of her brain called the cerebellum,” said Dr. Alma Bicknese, a pediatric neurologist at UIC.

“This particular virus has a tendency to go in and cause more neurologic problems,” Dr. Bicknese explained, when talking about how H1N1 caused Abby’s current medical issues.

Dr. Bicknese says had Abby not come down with H1N1, she likely would be fine right now.

And she says Abby’s case isn’t an isolated one. After talking with colleagues at other hospitals in the Chicago area, Dr. Bicknese estimates about a hundred kids in the Chicago area found themselves in similar situations.

“We weren’t counting them. There were so many kids that were coming in,” she said.

Many of those children got better, but Dr. Bicknese says some, including Abby, suffered what appears to be permanent neurological damage. In Abby’s case, significant loss of hearing, vision and motor skills.

It’s heartbreaking news for her family.

“We’re supposed to be there for our children, and we felt helpless,” said Jeff Toll, adding “Abby can’t ride a bike anymore. She can’t bowl. She can’t roller-skate. She can’t dance or run down the street with her friends anymore.”

The Tolls are hoping to spare other parents their pain by sharing Abby’s story.

“Hindsight is 20/20. If we could turn the clocks back, we definitely would have pre-vaccinated,” said Jeff.

His wife Rianne says she only wishes the H1N1 vaccine had been available before Abby got sick in October.

“If it was available at that time, I would have done it,” Rianne said. Her advice to other parents, “Get the shot. It’s worth it.”

Despite the challenges she’s facing, Abby is doing her best to not let her situation bring her down.

“I usually think of something else in my head,” Abby said, “Like, my Uncle Johnny keeps telling me that, ‘You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.’ So I just think of, ‘I can do it,’ and I just do it.”

Abby’s hearing loss is now between 50 and 55 percent. She needs hearing aids, but her parents’ insurance does not cover them. A benefit is being held Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Lynwood to raise the money they need.

Dr. Bicknese says there is no way to completely protect children from this, but the best defense is to make sure they get the H1N1 vaccine.

If you’d like to help Abby, a benefit account has been set up at Fifth Third Bank — account number 9237256814, in care of Abbigayle Toll.

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Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.