Walking on the beach may not seem like a big accomplishment for a 7-year-old boy. But for Palmer, the achievement was monumental considering he had been paralyzed less than four months before his beach trip.

 

“It happened overnight,” explains Palmer’s mother, Abby. “One minute he was fine, the next he couldn’t walk.”

 

The culprit was a rare disease that struck quickly and left pain and fear in its wake. Thankfully, Palmer found the treatment he needed at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital to start on the road to recovery.

 

One morning as he was getting ready for school, he seemed off balance while walking and said his backpack was too heavy to lift. Later, he fell down the stairs and didn’t have the strength to get up. Abby immediately called their pediatrician who tested Palmer for COVID-19 and the flu. They were negative. His blood work also came back normal except he was dehydrated.

 

With no improvement by the next day, the pediatrician sent Palmer to the emergency room in their Cape Girardeau hometown where he had a CT scan and an X-ray. Again, the tests didn’t find anything abnormal. However, because Palmer was so tired and weak, he was admitted to the hospital for further testing. Tests were again inconclusive.

 

Puzzled, doctors in Cape Girardeau consulted with a neurologist at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Two days later—April 13, 2022—the diagnosis came: Guillaine Barré Syndrome (GBS). This rare condition, which can be triggered by a viral infection, causes the immune system to attack the nerves. Early symptoms such as weakness and tingling often start in the lower body and progress to the upper body, potentially causing paralysis and affecting breathing, among other complications.

 

“The doctor was a big advocate for Ranken Jordan,” Abby says. “He assured us Palmer would get intensive therapy there and they would prepare us to transfer home. But they couldn’t give us a timeline for his recovery. They told us it could be weeks or months.”

 

Palmer started with physical and occupational therapy once a day. Initially, he used a wheelchair that Abby pushed but he quickly graduated to a wheelchair he maneuvered—he liked the independence to go where he wanted to go. After he settled in to Ranken Jordan, his therapy increased to twice a day.

 

“That was a game-changer in his progress,” Abby says. “Within a week, he was standing with a walker.”

 

By the end of the second week at Ranken Jordan, Palmer was walking with assistance.

 

“My initial fear was that Palmer would never walk again,” Abby says. “But once we got to Ranken Jordan, I was blown away how fast he progressed. Even the therapists were amazed. By the end of the second week, they said they felt comfortable with him going home to continue therapy.”

 

Once Palmer went home, he continued therapy and his progress continued to skyrocket. Today, he plays flag football and runs outside with his friends.

 

“When you see him now, you would never know there was anything wrong a few months ago,” Abby says. “When this happened in April, we almost canceled our beach vacation for August. But then our goal became to walk on the beach—and we made it! Within four months, Palmer went from not being able to walk at all to walking on the beach. If not for Ranken Jordan and the therapists, Palmer would not have gotten to where he is today as quickly.”