It started out as just another normal day for the Bryan family of Vienna as they enjoyed spending time with their beautiful 1-year-old daughter, Audrey Bryan. But, it wasn’t long before they realized that this day would soon become the beginning of a nightmare.
“She was this happy, healthy baby, and suddenly, she’s not,” said Jennifer Bryan, Audrey’s mother.
Audrey was a very social baby, always smiling, going to swim lessons, or making her way to one of her many playgroups. But, out of nowhere, Audrey started getting very sick. She would start to get really pale, and low on energy as if it had been completely drained out of her. Just one week after Audrey’s first birthday, she was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis or HLH, a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disease. Audrey’s body was attacking itself.
There are two types of HLH. One version is caused by environmental factors, and the other is genetically inherited. Unknowingly, both of Audrey’s parents were carriers and passed down HLH traits to Audrey. The genetic form of HLH is triggered by an environmental factor, often a virus or infection. A child can live a healthy life until this gene is activated by illness, which is what happened to Audrey.
Leave a Reply