Sask. TikTok star 'Bella Brave' hospitalized after medical emergency, condition 'stable': family
A Swift Current girl who has captured the hearts of millions online has been admitted to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon after an apparent complication.
In an update posted Thursday night Bella’s mother, Kyla Thompson, shared details about what happened.
“I woke up to Lyle calling for help from Bella’s room. She wouldn’t wake up. Her body was limp she couldn’t open her eyes, we called 911. We’ve never had to do that before,” Kyla Thompson said. “The four previous times Bella had gone septic or dealt with anything scary she was already in a hospital or stable enough for us to drive her there before things went downhill.”
Bella was taken to hospital in Swift Current before being flown to Saskatoon for further care.
“It was hard to be brave today. Everything hurts. Holding my girl as she cried out ‘I’m scared, I want to live, I don’t want to die, I want to go home,’” Kyla said. “Today broke me. It broke me in ways I didn’t think I had to face any more."
The family said “SVC syndrome” has been initially identified as the cause, but it may not be the lone factor. Short for superior vena cava syndrome, SVCS affects a large vein that carries blood from the head, neck, arms and chest to the heart.
The condition can be caused by blood clots, and Kyla said it’s possible “new clots or old clots” are causing the problem. If that’s the case, the fix could be as simple as restarting a different type of blood thinner injection.
“But we still need more details to understand exactly what’s going on,” Kyla said.
Bella is in stable condition while she awaits a CT scan Friday morning and an MRI after that.
Ten-year-old Bella Thompson, better known to her online followers as ‘Bella Brave’ and her family have been sharing her medical journey on TikTok. She was born with a mutation of three rare diseases – Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), Hirschsprung’s Disease – a condition that attacks the bowels - and Dwarfism.
Bella recently had a chance to meet pop singer Halsey, who initially reached out after seeing one of her videos several years ago.
Bella’s TikTok account has nearly 7 million followers.
-- With files from Angela Stewart and David Prisciak.
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