Ciarra’s Miraculous Journey!

Learning to walk on the treadmill!!  Her most recent rehabilitation milestone!

On January 31st my niece, Ciarra was found what looked to be napping yet had just been texting earlier and talking with her mom (Isabelle Stefan) 20-30 minutes prior and let her mom know she had a pretty bad headache.
The plans were for her mom to pick her up and they would take in some paperwork to the Coast Guard recruiting office, as that was the goal that day, to get her prepared to enlist! Her mom beeped the horn and waited at least 10 minutes when she finally went inside, at first, her mom thought she was sleeping off the headache; but then Ciarra could not be woken up after extensive efforts. She was rushed to the hospital and seemed to have had either a stroke or an aneurysm and still unresponsive. At that point the Doctors reported things looking very dim and told my sister and family to say their goodbyes. The tests done confirmed that she had had an AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation) which the doctors said may have been agitated by the barometric pressure that day. That lead to her first brain surgery and many surgeries to come and placed on a ventilator. After that surgery she had to be put in a medical induced coma and slowly woke up after a couple weeks.
It was nothing short of a miracle that Ciarra came out of that and slowly began to respond to physical stimulation and voices. First by just wiggling her fingers, then intentional blinking.. day by day she has improved slowly, but surely.
“Did we mention a miracle!”
She has been in a rehabilitation program since March in Atlanta at the Shepherd’s Center and has since has began talking and learning to eat and walk again.
Again, nothing short of a miracle here! We are so thankful for God’s hand in Ciarra’s life and Ciarra has expressed her thankfulness just to be here.
This has of course come with financial struggles. My sister, a single mom sat by her side for weeks in anticipation of a small sign of a chance at recovery. Her job was able to grant some leave time (We are very grateful for Dr. Schulz and his office for everything they have done for her!)however she will now have to temporarily move to Atlanta to undergo training in order to bring Ciarra home! Presenting her first financial burden. Due to the coronavirus, Ciarra has had to do weeks of recovery and relearning alone. She is missing her mom and can’t wait to go home. We want this to be as good of a transition as it can be and know that financial strain is less than ideal. If you can help in any way, it would be so appreciated! Even if not monetarily, please keep them in your prayers and give this a share. We know God has been and will always be faithful!