My niece Kelly is a spunky 4-year-old fighting to walk again after rare spinal cord surgery.
Kelly is just 4 years old — a bright, spunky, and fiercely independent little girl who lights up every room she enters. Only a short time ago, she was running, dancing, and climbing like any other 4-year-old. But within just hours, her world completely changed.
After 5 long weeks of multiple ER visits, hospital stays, countless scans, a bone marrow biopsy, follow-ups with specialists, and endless back-and-forth with doctors, Paula and Eric finally got an answer — or at least part of one.
Doctors discovered that a mass was on Kelly’s spinal cord and on the nerves that control her legs and bladder. What started as severe leg pain quickly turned into a complete loss of movement and feeling in both legs, along with loss of bowel and bladder control.
On October 25, Kelly was rushed into emergency spinal surgery to give her the best possible chance to walk again. During the operation, what the neurosurgeon believed was a tumor turned out to be a large blood clot on her spinal cord. The surgery was a success in removing most of it, but Kelly’s case remains somewhat of an extremely rare medical mystery.
Because a small portion of the mass was too risky to remove, doctors are still waiting on final pathology results from the Mayo Clinic to determine exactly what it is and what steps come next. These answers will guide her future treatment, potential surgeries and recovery.
In the meantime, Kelly is proving every day what a fighter she is! She is currently an inpatient at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, working hard in daily physical and occupational therapy to regain her strength, movement, and independence. Her inpatient rehabilitation is expected to last another 4–8 weeks, followed by many more months of outpatient therapy once she returns home.
The hospital is two hours away from the family’s home in Palm City, and Paula and Eric are doing everything they can to balance hospital life and home life with their two other daughters, Dani and Dot. They continue to split hospital shifts, work their jobs, and keep life as steady as possible for all 3 girls.
This GoFundMe has been created to help ease the financial burden of this unexpected and challenging journey — including travel expenses, tolls, meals, medical bills, and future medical equipment that Kelly will need to regain her independence and athletic life.
Through it all, Kelly continues to amaze everyone with her sass, humor, and determination. Her journey ahead is long, but her spirit is fierce — and she’s meeting every challenge with a smile that lights up every room!
If you know the Rogers family, you know they’re the first to make you laugh, cheer for your kids, or show up when you need it most. They would never ask for help — but now is our chance to give back to them, to return even a fraction of the love and kindness they’ve shared with so many.
Every prayer, share, and donation helps more than words can say.
Thank you for rallying behind Kelly and the Rogers family as they face this road ahead together.
