An American woman who was living her dream of teaching abroad in Thailand fell ill with an autoimmune disease that left her paralyzed in a hospital.
Caroline Bradner, 22, a recent college graduate from Henrico County, Virginia, developed Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) just before Christmas, according to a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign.
Bradner’s illness prompted her family and friends back home in Virginia to raise money for the substantial costs of repatriating her to America and pursuing treatment and rehabilitation.
The initial goal of the campaign was to raise $70,000, but after it went viral the public responded with donations totaling more than $74,000.
Caroline Bradner, 22, an American woman who was living her dream of teaching abroad in Thailand, fell ill and has been left paralyzed in a hospital. She is seen above with Thai medical personnel in this undated file photo
Bradner, 22, a recent college graduate from Henrico County, Virginia, fell ill with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) just before Christmas, according to a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign
When she was first admitted to the hospital in Thailand, doctors initially thought she had multiple sclerosis
The family said that Bradner woke up on December 22 in her apartment in southern Thailand ‘unable to move.’
After she was admitted into the hospital, doctors ran blood tests and thought she might be suffering from multiple sclerosis.
So she received medication and was sent home.
Over the course of the next two days, however, her condition deteriorated.
‘What started as muscle weakness in her abdomen, worsened into paralysis over the course of two days,’ according to the GoFundMe page.
Initially, the insurance company refused the family’s request to provide Bradner with transportation home.
But after Bradner’s case generated an outpouring of public sympathy, the insurance company agreed to bring her stateside.
The family now says that all of the family raised on GoFundMe will go toward medical and rehabilitation costs.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its nervous system.
It affects around one in 100,000 people in the U.K. and U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that it affects between 3,000 and 6,000 people every year.
Bradney has been teaching English in the Thai village of Surat Thani, which is not far from the island of Phuket
Bradner’s illness prompted her family and friends back home in Virginia to raise money for the substantial costs of repatriating her to America and pursuing treatment and rehabilitation
Symptoms usually start with a tingling sensation in the leg, which may spread to the arms and upper body.
In severe cases, the person can become paralyzed.
The condition can be life-threatening if it affects a person’s breathing, blood pressure or heart rate.
GBS’ cause is unknown, but it usually occurs after a viral infection. Treatment focuses on restoring the nervous system.
After Bradner finished her undergrad at the University of Mississippi, she waited tables and saved money to pursue her dream of teaching English in Thailand.
‘She has that tenacious spirit,’ her dad, Jim Bradner, told WTVR-TV.
Bradner’s father, Jim Bradner, says his daughter has fallen in love with her Thai students, whom she teaches English
‘She has that tenacious spirit,’ her dad, Jim Bradner, said. ‘That she wants to go out there and try something new. It was inspiring to me that she wanted to do this. But, it was scary too because she’s exactly on the other side of the globe’
‘That she wants to go out there and try something new.
‘It was inspiring to me that she wanted to do this.
‘But, it was scary too because she’s exactly on the other side of the globe.’
She applied to teach through a program called Xplore Asia. She has been living in Surat Thani, a small village not far from Phuket, since October.
Jim Bradner said his daughter was in no hurry to come home after she fell in love with the children she taught.
Despite the severity of her illness, Caroline Bradner was seen in photos on GoFundMe smiling and laughing with doctors.
‘She’s scared because she can’t move,’ Pierce Bradner, her sister, said. ‘But, she is really strong and really brave.
‘She’s a great person, the best sister.’
A close friend and neighbor of the family in Virginia, Lori Horton, is a registered nurse.
She told the family that Caroline’s paralysis could be reversed, though she warned it could take months – perhaps years – of rehabilitation.
Horton said: ‘The key to healing has a psychological component that you can’t replace by being so far away.
‘This is very stressful for mom and Caroline to be so far away.’
Caroline’s physical condition is complicating plans to bring her back to America.
Doctors are not allowing her to take a regular commercial flight because of her fragile physical state.
The family has raised more than $74,000 which will go toward medical and rehabilitation. The travel insurance company that issued Caroline’s policy has agreed to pay for her return to America
The only option is for Caroline to be accompanied by a nurse and her mother.
There’s also the distance. Thailand is some 9,000 miles away from home – which is translated into 26 hours of flight time.
The logistics that need to be arranged are quite costly, which is why the family has asked for public donations.
‘The hospital there has put out bids to get us costs and we should know something in the next two to three days,’ Jim Bradner said.