A New Jersey tot was left unable to walk and speak after developing rhabdomyolysis from the common cold, according to her father, who’s trying to raise more awareness of the rare disorder that killed a New York City Marathon runner this week.
uncertain
that → leave → runner
Ali Modica was just 4 when an apparent mild sickness resulted in heart and kidney failure, leading to a brain injury that left her requiring full-time care and intensive physical and occupational therapy.
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that → result → care
“We thought it was the common cold running through the body,” Ali’s father, 38-year-old Joe Modica, told The Post, explaining how he, his wife, and their two younger sons, also fell ill with mild symptoms around the same time on Jan. 6, 2024.
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he → think → Jan.
“My 7-month-old got it first.
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old → get → it
And then it just ran through everybody.
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it → run → everybody
She was the last one to get it so we didn’t think anything of it,” he added.
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he → get → it
“On the Friday night, Ali went to bed on her own.
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Ali → go → own
Then she came in our bed in the middle of the night.
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she → come → night
That wasn’t uncommon,” Joe said.
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Joe → say → ?
“But then in the morning, I felt her body.
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I → feel → body
It was really cold, and she wasn’t warming up.
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she → warm → ?
She didn’t want to walk, so I brought her downstairs and she didn’t want to eat breakfast,” he said.
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he → want → breakfast
“So I told my wife, ‘Her lips are purple; she has to go to the hospital.’
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she → tell → hospital
That was the sign she was oxygen-deprived,” the dad from Old Bridge said.
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dad → deprive → Bridge
At the hospital, “we found out her heart was failing,” said Joe, who has documented Ali’s struggles on social media.
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who → find → media
Due to a lack of pediatric ECMO at the initial hospital, Ali was taken via ambulance during a severe winter storm to a hospital two hours away in Philadelphia.
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Ali → take → Philadelphia
As soon as they got to the cardiac floor, Ali “coded,” and what had once seemed like a common cold or the flu was now full-blown heart failure.
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seemed → get → cold
“She had no heartbeat for 18 minutes,” Joe explained.
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Joe → have → minutes
Ali’s kidneys, lungs, heart, and liver were all failing, but doctors were able to get a pulse back and hooked her up to an ECMO machine, and she was kept on a ventilator for several days.
“
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she → fail → days
Then we find out that she has rhabdomyolysis,” Joe said, adding that the previously healthy young child with no allergies had to be kept on 24-hour dialysis to clean her blood.
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child → find → blood
Rhabdomyolysis, or rhabdo, is a rare condition, often brought on by overexertion, in which the muscles disintegrate, causing toxic materials to enter the bloodstream and leading to kidney and heart failure.
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materials → bring → failure
Ali’s heart fully recovered after five days, although she subsequently faced prolonged ventilator and dialysis support.
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she → recover → support
“If we didn’t get her to the hospital when we did, she wouldn’t be here today,” Joe said.
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Joe → get → hospital
Today, Ali is 7 and is still suffering from a brain injury that left her unable to walk or talk, requiring full-time care from her parents and intensive physical and occupational therapy that the family is having to cover out of pocket, due to it not being covered by their insurance.
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it → suffer → insurance
The family has pursued stem cell treatments using Ali’s saved umbilical cord, traveling to Florida for the latest round this March.
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family → pursue → round
“She’s making great strides; she’s getting stronger every day,” Joe said.
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Joe → make → strides
Joe wanted to speak out about his family’s story to raise awareness of the condition after hearing of the tragic death of Rachel Apa, a 24-year-old fit and healthy former college athlete who died during Sunday’s New York City Marathon from what was later discovered to be rhabdomyolysis.
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what → want → Marathon
“I’m 38 years old.
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I → ’m → ?
I’d never heard of this in my life until my daughter had it,” he said.
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he → hear → it
“When my wife and I heard about Rachel, we looked at each other like we saw a ghost.
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we → hear → ghost
I still get goosebumps.
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I → get → goosebumps
No one knows about this,” Joe said.
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Joe → know → this
“We are grieving for Rachel and her family.
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We → grieve → Rachel
It’s information that needs to be out there more.
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that → ’ → ?
It might have to be something the Marathon organizers are more aware of,” he said.
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he → have → ?
He warned of the need for more awareness among athletes, their families, and medical staff to better recognize the risks of over-exertion and post-viral complications.
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He → warn → exertion
You know your child.
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You → know → child
The first signs of it is your child not walking, or having pain in [their] legs.
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child → walk → legs
A viral infection can bring it on,” Joe said.
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Joe → bring → it
Today, Joe says he, his wife, and their two sons, Joe, 5, and Carmine, 3, are “surviving,” as Ali continues to slowly improve.
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Ali → say → ?
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
