Save our teacher

Laila is a 31-year-old teacher of a first-grade class in Dekalb County Georgia and received the teacher of the year award from Coca-Cola for the year of 2018-2019.  She’s has been a teacher in Georgia public schools for six years and with her master’s degree in early childhood development.

On October 20, 2018, Laila fell ill with what was assumed to be a common cold. After four days of little progress, she visited a doctor who diagnosed her symptoms as bronchitis. However, two days later, they prescribed medications that seemed to do little to aid her symptoms and she began to experience chills, body pain, and frequent vomiting. When these new symptoms seemed to worsen and her right eye suddenly became bloodshot, Laila was admitted to her local hospital’s emergency room. The staff informed her that she was previously misdiagnosed and was experiencing a severe sinus infection.  After being given a migraine cocktail and orders to stay home for two days, she was discharged. Laila returned to work, symptoms having slightly subsided, but now experiencing swelling around her right eye that progressed throughout the week.

On October 31st she suddenly lost her vision in her right eye and returned to the emergency room at the hospital with her family. Again, she was told that she had been misdiagnosed and had suffered a brain aneurysm and was bleeding internally. Unable to be treated on site, she was rushed by ambulance to another Hospital and checked in roughly around 10:00 pm still in extreme pain, but coherent and talking to doctors.  By 11:30 pm she was given medication by the staff to ease her pain and prepare her for a procedure to stop the brain bleeding. Laila began to complain of increased pain in her head and shortly after suffered from a stroke and several seizures, causing a further rupture in the brain. She was unable to be stabilized and receive the procedure until 1:30 pm on November 1st, nearly 12 hours after being admitted to Emory hospital. Following the procedure, Laila was in a coma for nearly 30 days. She was able to wake up from her comma on DEC 6th and was breathing on her own as of DEC 14th. Although she has yet to speak or walk, she is making slow progress to recover from the traumatic brain injury. 

Currently, Laila is at Shepherd Center in their lower level program where she has 30-days to make significant progress to continue into the rehab program, or she will be sent home. For her continued recovery, Laila will require daily 24-hour nursing care that is not covered by her insurance. This care will fall to her family at the cost $4000 a month.

Once she completes the Shepard center program, Laila will be sent home and her mother will serve as her primary care provider. The amount we are asking for will cover her nursing care for approximately 1 year. There will be other expenses that will come over time, but this is what is needed the most at this time. Any contribution that is made will be appreciated and will help with Laila's continued care and the road to recovery so that this teacher of the year can one day return to work.