Joseph and Mikah Jones were looking forward to visiting Florida and taking their daughter, 1-year-old Cadence, to the beach for the first time, the parents told WTSP-TV. But on July 22, a few days into the trip, Cadence stopped moving.
"She wouldn't walk anymore, she just wanted to crawl. Well, then, she didn't even want to crawl anymore. And so, we're trying to figure out if she was just tired, and she finally became lifeless," Mikah Jones told KWTV-TV.
The parents rushed Cadence to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barre Syndrome -- a rare autoimmune disorder in which a person's own immune system damages the nerves, causing muscle weakness and paralysis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disorder is even more rare in young children, WTSP-TV reported.
"The hardest part was when we got (to the hospital) and they tested her for her reflexes and stuff. She didn't have any. She wouldn't react to it," Mikah Jones said.
When Cadence first arrived at the hospital, her eyes were shut and her body wouldn't move. She's making slow progress, but she's still hospitalized in Florida, many miles from the family's Oklahoma home.
The family has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with Cadence's medical expenses. By Thursday, it has raised just over half of its $20,000 goal.
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