Ataleigh

In only 24 hours, parents Lea and Steven watched their daughter Ataleigh go from being a playful toddler to a very sick child and rushed her to HSC Children’s Hospital.

“The world stopped turning for a moment, we were frozen in time,” says Lea, Ataleigh’s mom. “Everything about our lives changed in the blink of an eye.”

Ataleigh was only three years old when Lea started noticing her daughter’s odd symptoms. She lost weight very fast, urinated and drank water frequently, and complained of headaches and dizziness. Lea knew Ataleigh was an active child and initially thought all these signs were typical for a toddler. The family visited a local walk-in and were reassured when the doctor said Ataleigh had a common stomach bug.

The next 24 hours after the appointment, Ataleigh’s health quickly took a turn for the worse.

“You never think something will happen to your child until it does,” says Lea. “And when you need HSC Children’s, they are there for you.”

On an early morning in September 2021, Lea and Steven rushed their only child to HSC Children’s Emergency Department. Nurses and doctors began checking for Ataleigh’s vitals as Lea held her daughter in her arms. Within minutes of settling into a room, doctors diagnosed Ataleigh with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that makes it difficult for the body to make insulin. The doctors explained that Ataleigh’s symptoms were due to diabetic ketoacidosis, a reaction to her body’s lack of insulin.

“Without the Children’s Hospital, Ataleigh wouldn’t be here today,” says Lea. “It means everything to us, especially because we were treated so well during such a difficult time.”

Since then, Ataleigh manages her type 1 diabetes with a continuous blood glucose monitor and an insulin pump. She also regularly attends classes at Diabetes Education Resource for Children & Adolescents (DER-CA) and will continue to do so until she’s 18. Ataleigh will need the support of the health care teams at HSC Children’s throughout her life.

The family lives in St. Adolphe, Manitoba where the now six-year-old Ataleigh still has a very positive attitude – smiling and laughing all day long. She brings her bright and shining optimism everywhere she goes, including to her first-grade arts and crafts classes and gymnastics class.

Lea and Steven are very grateful to all the nurses, doctors, and health care staff at HSC Children’s for giving Ataleigh the best and most compassionate care. They are especially thankful to the resident doctor who shared Ataleigh’s diagnosis.

“The doctor praised me for seeking help in advance and continuing to advocate for Ataleigh,” says Lea. “We know the Children’s Hospital is there to support us now and in the future.”

The Foundation team is very grateful to the generosity of donors who help fund leading-edge research at Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM). Last year, thanks to a memorable gift from TD Bank Group (TD), the new research theme, Diabetes Research Envisioned and Accomplished in Manitoba Research (DREAM), allows researchers to help improve the health of children like Ataleigh, living with diabetes.

To learn more about the DREAM research theme and how it helps #ContinueCaringForKids, click here. To help more kids at your children’s hospital, donate here.