10 Years After Contracting H1N1 Virus, 13yo Miracle Flyer Is Still Searching for a Cure

Mar 12, 2020

LAS VEGAS, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2009, 2-year-old Rylie Brown of Kansas City, Missouri, contracted the H1N1 flu virus, which left her with permanent neurological damage. More than a decade later, her mom, Christi, is still on a nationwide search for the right treatment.

"I won't give up," says Christi. "We have a good team here, but as her mom, I want Rylie to have the best, newest information available — wherever it is."

On Monday, March 16, Rylie Brown, 13, and her mom, Christi, will board their fifth Miracle Flight to medical treatment. Since 2011, Miracle Flights has provided the Browns with free plane tickets to seek valuable second opinions and innovative treatments from medical experts across the country, in hopes of alleviating the persistent issues Rylie suffers as a result of the H1N1 virus she contracted as a toddler in 2009.

On Monday, March 16, Christi and Rylie will board their fifth Miracle Flight, this time to Philadelphia. Since 2011, Miracle Flights has provided the Browns with free plane tickets to seek valuable second opinions and innovative treatments from experts across the country. Without Miracle Flights, Christi says the travel would be financially impossible.

"When you have a sick child, all of your money goes to that," she says. "Having someone say, 'Here's a flight' is unbelievably helpful."

As Christi remembers, Rylie's early life started out like a dream. "She could walk at 7 months and speak in complete sentences by 1," she recalls. "In a matter of a week, I went from that to a child who had to relearn how to walk and talk."

Just before Halloween 2009, Rylie caught H1N1, the pandemic that infected 61 million people across the U.S. In young children, the virus could lead to neurological complications such as seizures and encephalopathy. Rylie developed both, at one point suffering a stroke and slipping into a coma. Doctors didn't expect her to survive. When she awoke, she could no longer sit up, crawl, walk, talk or eat.

Years of extensive therapies have helped Rylie regain her baseline skills, but every time she's exposed to a viral illness, it can trigger a regression of speech and motor skills. Over the years, she's been prescribed more than 20 different kinds of medication, endured multiple hospitalizations and visited specialists in Minnesota, Texas and Massachusetts. Still, persistent pain, fatigue and side-effects from medication often keep her sidelined from the friends and activities she enjoys.

Christi hopes next week's Miracle Flight will yield a new treatment plan for Rylie. Even if it doesn't, she'll still find value in the trip. "Every time Miracle Flights has flown us, I've met another family who is going through something similar," she says. "Miracle Flights doesn't just provide a flight. They open doors and allow families to create networks of support that otherwise wouldn't be possible."

To help Rylie continue her medical journey, or to request a flight for your family, visit miracleflights.org.

About Miracle Flights

Miracle Flights is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free medical air transportation to children and adults via commercial airlines throughout the United States. The organization, founded in 1985, has provided 130,638 flights and currently books more than 600 flights per month. To request a flight, learn more or donate, call 800-359-1711 or visit miracleflights.org. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.

Press Contact: Erika Koff: (702) 261-0494 or [email protected].

SOURCE Miracle Flights