An eight-year-old girl was left paralysed and fighting for her life after coronavirus reportedly caused her to suffer from a rare auto-immune disease.
Avella Braun, from Bloomington, Minneapolis, US, was a healthy child before she caught Covid six months ago.
She initially only suffered from a mild fever, however her mum Lani Bauer found her unconscious a few days after she tested positive for coronavirus.
Lani rushed her daughter to hospital where she was placed in intensive care and intubated.
Doctors diagnosed her with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is when the brain and spinal cord inflame and cause damage to the body.
ADEM is caused by viruses and the only virus Avella tested positive for was Covid, according to Fox 9 KMSP.
Dr. Michael Pitt, who cared for Avella, said: "We have every reason to believe that COVID was the triggering virus here.
"We're seeing cases all over the world of ADEM where the only virus they find is COVID."
The doctor told NBC: "We're seeing an extreme that is very, very rare, but it's certainly something we would want to prevent."
Avella has undergone a blood transfusion and surgery to remove part of her skull to ease the swelling.
Her mum has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover her medical bills, with kind-hearted strangers donating more than £25,000.
Lani previously said: "We looked at her MRI and it was explained to us that she has extensive brain and spinal cord injury.
"Typically with ADEM ( her auto immune disease) there is about a 70% chance of total recovery, however, her case is so extreme her outcome will be unknown for quite awhile.
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"As stated previously, her autoimmune incident is typically preceded by a virus or an infection.
"There was no evidence of this before the acute onset of her current condition.
"However, after many many many tests and blood tests, etc., the only antibody that came back positive for the unknown infection prior to ADEM was Covid.
"What happened was, once the the antibody fighting the original infection (Covid) was gone, it got confused and attacked her nervous system (brain) - thus ADEM occurred.
"There is no way to say 100% that the Covid was the original infection, but through all the findings it is what makes the most sense. It likely played a role in the extreme severity of it as well."
Avella's family has incurred medical bills of more than £870,000 due to her ordeal.
