Leia's Brave Fight

Up till recently, Leia was a carefree kid enjoying her childhood as the oldest sister of four girls. Leah has always been a kind, confident and compassionate child with a selfless nature Who would do anything in life with a positive attitude. This all started to change about four months ago when Leia began complaining to her parents that her bones and tummy were sore.

After initial visits to the doctors, they were put down as “just growing pains”; however, she started complaining more about the pain in her tummy and subsequently lost a significant amount of weight due to her not being able to eat. As time went by, Leia started deteriorating to the point that she would constantly fall at school and not be able to get up on her own; at home, she would sit on the couch where she would call out to mum to get her up. She had become so weak that mum had to bathe and dress her.

Leia has been diagnosed with “juvenile dermatomyositis,” an inflammatory disease of the muscle, skin, and blood vessels. Patients with this condition develop weakness in the large muscles like their neck, shoulders, and hips. This explained Leia’s muscle weakness and her constantly falling.

Leia and her family are currently on a terrifying journey to get her strength up and hopefully manage her symptoms. They have to travel weekly from Masterton to Lower Hutt Hospital, where she is receiving corticoid steroid therapy injections, blood tests, and physiotherapy.