Support Samantha's Journey to Healing

Hello, my name is Kat and I am creating this GoFundMe to support my sister (Chrissy Panzner) and brother-in-law (Jeremy Panzner) to help my niece Samantha.

This past Mother's Day, the unthinkable happened. My 5-year-old niece Samantha was found crying in bed, unable to move her right arm and having some difficulty speaking. At first, the assumption was that she was injured while running around with her 4-year-old brother and twin sister, as they have a tendency to play rough at times. My sister took her to the Wolfson Emergency Department in Jacksonville, FL, to get checked out. Initially, the thought was that she had a possible concussion, so they ordered a CT scan. The CT scan was negative for anything traumatic, which was great, and she was potentially going to get discharged. However, Sammy still seemed drowsy and not acting like herself.

My sister then noticed that she seemed to be having difficulty finding her words, drooling on one side, and was unable to move her right arm or her right leg. She then called the nurses back in, and they examined her. They immediately had the doctor come back in, and she was stroke-alerted. Thankfully, they did not hesitate and transferred her out to the nearest children's hospital, where she was sedated and underwent an MRI. This confirmed that my beautiful 5-year-old niece, in fact, had a thrombolytic stroke.

Samantha has no underlying medical conditions that could account for a child having a stroke. She spent the next 11 days in the pediatric ICU receiving every test imaginable. She was seen by Cardiology and had an echo, ultrasound of extremities, and a more invasive TEE to further look at any cardiac anomalies. Those tests, thankfully, were negative. She was also seen by Rheumatology, Hematology, and Infectious Disease with no specific answers as to why she had this event. She has been so strong throughout this process, and even though she gets frustrated, she has maintained her amazing smile and spirit.

She was just discharged to a rehab facility where she will undergo intensive physical and occupational therapy to hopefully regain motor function and strength in her arm and leg.

Normally, we wouldn't ask for help. However, Sammy is going to need a lot of newer equipment such as a wheelchair and most likely other accommodating medical equipment as she heals and recovers. She is also going to require intensive outpatient therapy once she is discharged from rehab. Any amount will help them get Sammy all of the help she needs so she can get back as much mobility as possible! Thank you for everyone's thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time!