Support Adrian's Fight for Life

Adrian Michael Herrera's Journey: A Fight for Answers

In early 2024, 13-year-old Adrian Herrera was a healthy, active teen who loved swimming in his pool, video games, boba tea, volleyball, tennis, and hanging out with friends. But in February, his mom, Angela, noticed something was off—he only smiled on one side of his face. Initially brushed off as Bell’s Palsy by his pediatrician, Adrian’s condition worsened within the first months of the year, with numbness spreading to his right hand. Angela’s instincts led her to push for answers, which launched the family into a year-long medical nightmare.

Adrian’s 1st hospital stay was on his 14th birthday at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago after an MRI revealed three brain lesions. The hospitalization was initially due to suspicion of a tumor, eventually doctors began to think he was having strokes, but their cause was unknown. They said, “He’s having stroke-like symptoms, but stroke is not the cause; it’s a symptom.”

Since his initial hospitalization, Adrian has had a ridiculous number of hospital stays, MRIs, genetic testing, and bloodwork. He has had a couple of Angiograms, several lumbar punctures, and two brain biopsies, the first in Chicago and also in Boston. He’s undergone steroid treatments, IVIG, chemotherapy, and plasma exchange (PLEX), but nothing has stopped the progression. He’s been seen in Chicago at Comer Children’s, Lurie Children’s, Boston Children’s, and the Mayo Clinic. The doctors suspect his immune system is misfiring—sending his T-cells and B-cells to attack his brain, even though there’s nothing evident to fight. They have given Adrian a "working diagnosis" of CNS Vasculitis, a rare condition involving inflammation of the blood vessels in the brain, and it’s called a “working diagnosis” because they are still “working” on his actual diagnosis. A year later, despite all of the hospital visits, the pokes, the IVs, the blood draws, the MRIs, the genetic testing, the brain biopsies, and the treatments, they still can’t give Adrain a definitive diagnosis. Boston said, “He’s a unicorn.”

Adrian just turned 15 on April 21st, which marks a year of him enduring this personal hell with no end in sight. He has lost the use of his right hand, has difficulty walking without a brace or wheelchair, and experiences cognitive challenges like word recall and reading impairment. He is now immunosuppressed, needs full-time home care, regular intensive rehab, and has lost his entire freshman year of school. His family is navigating a sudden transition to a one-income household, dealing with mounting medical bills, and doing everything they can to support Adrian.

As of March 2025, after discovering the cytoxan chemotherapy wasn’t working, doctors decided to switch to a new treatment called Tocilizumab with hopes of halting any further brain damage. Tocilizumab is a receptor inhibitor medication that blocks the inflammatory protein Interleukin-6. Adrian’s IL6 was elevated at his last blood draw, and so we are hoping that this new treatment can put him into remission. The genetics team is also working with a scientist in New Zealand in hopes that she can find some information relating to Adrian’s RNF 125, and we hope that someone, somewhere, reads all of this and can help Adrian find answers!

Through it all, Adrian has stayed strong, kind, determined, and humble. A couple of months ago, he learned that the Make-A-Wish foundation is granting him a wish, and his response was, “I don’t deserve it.” He is now over the moon, excited about creating a wish for himself. Even when considering his wish, he must realize his new limitations in life, and though that has been hard on him, he is extremely excited. What he sees in the mirror now is not how he remembers himself just a short year ago. He says, “It’s like someone has stolen my abilities”, and he just wants them back. He notices the other kids playing, driving, or running around and says, “A year ago, I was just like them.” He dreams of swimming in his pool again, or going to Driver's Ed and graduating with his class, but most of all, he just wants a diagnosis and a cure. He wants an end to this nightmare, and so do his parents, because the emotional, physical, and financial toll is detrimental.

The GoFundMe for Adrian won’t find a diagnosis, but it will help ease the burdens:

Mounting medical bills from 4 major hospitals

Home modifications like stair railings and shower handles

Pool access so Adrian can still exercise and feel included

Future accessibility equipment so he can learn to drive

A July trip to Boston for immunology and genetic testing

And most importantly, hope and stability for the Herrera family

The Herrera family needs our help through the “Answers for Adrian” fundraiser—not just for medical bills, but to improve Adrian’s quality of life, fund necessary travel for specialist care, and ease the strain on a family doing everything they can in a devastatingly uncertain situation.