Alyssa Miller

We need your help for a Christmas Miracle for 10-year-old Alyssa Miller and her family.

On Tuesday, December 11th, 2018, Alyssa was at school and experienced a sudden seizure. She was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. While enroute, she experienced another seizure and two more in the emergency room.  She was admitted overnight and medical testing revealed nothing abnormal. Doctors administered some light anti-seizure medication and she appeared okay and was discharged the next day.  The next morning, her mother, Kim, tried to wake her and found her lethargic and unresponsive. An ambulance and Paramedics responded and she stopped breathing. She was rushed to intensive care at Children's Hospital in Pensacola where she continued to have multiple prolonged seizures. Physicians tried multiple medications to no avail and she was put into a medically induced coma for 48 hours to try and break the seizures and give her body and brain a chance to rest. However, once medications were stopped and they began to wake her, she began having multiple seizures again.  Multiple MRIs, CTs, Spinaltaps and lab work are all clear and doctors are at a loss for a diagnosis or how to save her. They have consulted with other specialists and hospitals and she was transferred by air ambulance early Saturday morning, December 22nd, to the University of Florida Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. The hospital in Pensacola had exhausted all of its anti-seizure medication.


Alyssa  is a beautiful child with no history of health problems. She has been in perfect health and has been a ray of sunshine to her family, friends and classmates. This sudden illness is unexplained and has been devastating to her family, especially with doctors unable to provide answers so far.


Alyssa  has three older sisters. Her parents, Shannon and Kimberly Miller, are from Pensacola, Florida and are active in their community and church. In 2015, Shannon and Kim reached out in a selfless act of faith and love and adopted Alyssa AND her three sisters from foster care so they would not be split apart. For three years, they have provided all the love and care in a Christian home that every child deserves.  The sisters have thrived in school, participate in school and church functions and are a testament to what love and the power of prayer can do. They are always ready to tell how grateful they are for a normal loving family they now have after a tragic and harrowing early childhood. 


Although Shannon and Kim have no biological children of their own, their marriage of over 30 years has been an example to others and they have been surrogate parents to their nephews and nieces all these years.


We are asking for your help this Christmas season. We need your prayers for Alyssa and her family. Whatever your faith or creed, we humbly ask  you to remember this precious little girl and that the doctors at Shands Hospital can find a proper diagnosis and treatment. We also ask for any small financial gift you might consider. Alyssa's father, Shannon, has not left her bedside in 10 days and has not been able to work. Her mother, Kimberly,  was diagnosed with the flu and  was not allowed in ICU to be with her daughter for a week. She has been taking care of her other 3 daughters. She is on her way to Gainesville today.  Although medical insurance is providing medical coverage, with Christmas upon us, it is a financial struggle for them as they must meet unexpected expenses for a short time in Gainesville and Pensacola as well as continue to provide for their other three daughters.


No time is ever welcomed for sickness and tragedy. However, Christmas is a tender time, especially for children. Just a few days ago, Alyssa was happily awaiting Christmas and had just recently completed making gifts for her new Mom and Dad.  Now, her sisters and family are holding vigil as they await answers. 

On behalf of the Miller family, thank you for your consideration and for sharing Alyssa's story with others.

We will post updates as soon as they are available.

Stu Jackson
Team Alyssa
[email redacted]