Community rallies around Ryan Wilson
“Tomorrow is never guaranteed.”
Most people don’t recognize this truth until the day that they are forced to. Ryan Wilson encountered that day one month ago.
After falling sick with what appeared to be the common cold, Wilson, junior, felt his hands go unusually numb when he was playing video games. His health drastically deteriorated almost immediately after and upon being rushed to the hospital, he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. Wilson was admitted to the ICU at the Tarzana Medical Center on a ventilator and was unable to move or eat on his own. According to his fundraiser page, Wilson’s case is “among the most serious.”
In mid April, Wilson was transferred to Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA. As of today, he has been moved to a rehabilitation facility at the Children’s Hospital. While he still has some complications due to the medicine’s side effects and his lack of mobility, he is on the road to recovery. “It’s the baby steps that mean the world. There was one day where he was slouching over and he was able to sit himself up back straight. The worst of it is over. He [has] just gotten off a ventilator and he’s gotten a little movement back,” said Maddie Pappous, junior, who has known Wilson since kindergarden.
According to Wilson’s family, “he has many months of intense physical therapy ahead of him, but is expected to make a full recovery.”
Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder, with less than 20,000 United States cases diagnosed each year. GBS is a nervous system disorder in which the immune system attacks one’s own nerves. This condition can causes muscle weakness, and in some cases complete paralysis. Although treatable, this disorder is extremely expensive to treat, often called the “million dollar disease.” To manage GBS, special blood treatments such as plasma exchange and immunoglobulin therapy are administered to the patient, as well as necessary physical therapy. More often than not, the purpose of these treatments is to relieve symptoms – not cure the disease.
“It’s one of those things you never expect to happen to someone you’re close to,” Pappous said. She added that Wilson’s illness only appeared several weeks ago, and that “it’s totally out of the blue. It really sucks to see someone you know that well in that much pain.”
The illness has not only taken a toll on both Wilson and his family, but also to those who have heard his story. Members of the community and close friends of the Wilson family have created an online fundraiser, hoping to help with medical expenses. In the month since the fundraiser has been set up, they have raised almost $19,000. “We’re all trying to do as much as we can to help,” said Pappous.
At school, FHA-Hero set up a medical help fundraiser for Wilson at the Quad on April 16. Before becoming ill, Wilson was a member of the Foods & Nutrition 1 and 2 class and FHA-Hero wanted to make an effort to help out one of their own. FHA-Hero members offered cookies to those who made any donation. “People don’t really come back (financially) from a situation like this,” said Zach Archuleta, junior and FHA-Hero member. “It’s called a million dollar disease because it’s so ridiculously expensive (to treat). His mom couldn’t work because she was with him a lot, and the fundraiser was to help his mom pay the bills.”
Archuleta, who has known Wilson for seven years, knows that it is easy to look past situations like these in the daily hustle and bustle of school. “We go to a school full of people who base their life on materialistic objects,” Archuleta said. “They don’t understand the gravity of the situation. When it finally happens to a loved one, people take a step back and realize ‘oh. This is real. This can happen to me’ … A lot of kids at our school aren’t really going to care that much, but they should.”
As of now, Wilson will most likely not return to campus for the rest of his junior year, and will take independent study classes to make up his missed coursework. However, he plans on returning to school for his senior year.
Although Wilson has started to regain his mobility, any donations would help his family immensely. To donate, visit pantherprowler.org for the link or go directly to Wilson’s gofundme page here: http://www.gofundme.com/qexncgg.
