Girl, 14, left paralyzed from the neck down after getting the flu
Teenager Lexi Browne suffered excruciating pain after experiencing an extremely unlikely side effect of the flu which left her paralyzed and on the brink of death.
The 14-year-old fell ill with the flu near the end of 2025, with her main symptoms being a fever and dizziness, which are fairly standard symptoms of influenza. But unlike similar illnesses, this one left Lexi screaming in pain.
Her health was deteriorating so rapidly that, after ringing her mom to howl down the phone and being taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England, Lexi was placed into a 'neuroprotective' coma.
Doctors now believe that the teenage girl had actually suffered an extremely rare but dangerous side effect of a flu infection, which somehow interrupted the blood flow to her spine and induced a spinal stroke - leaving her paralyzed for the rest of her life.
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Although this happened in December, Lexi remains in hospital with the use of a ventilator to assist her breathing.
Her mom Stacey Grantham, 33, has spoken out about that day her daughter's condition seemed to nosedive, and her race home after hearing her child scream in pain down the phone to her.
Knowing the situation was serious, she rushed home only to find paramedics with an air ambulance trying their best to resuscitate her daughter, who she said was 'healthy and active' before the serious illness.
Describing her daughter as a 'passionate singer' with a passion for drama, mom Stacey can't help but feel that Lexi has 'lost everything she loves' from the infection-induced spinal stroke, which left her unable to speak.
Sadly, this has made Lexi feel like she 'can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.'
Stacey said: "When she woke, she was paralysed from the neck down and we were told she'd have no movement again, and be ventilated for the rest of her life.”
The family have shared some hope that intensive physiotherapy may restore a small amount of her muscle strength, but their progress is slow. Currently, Lexi can only breathe by herself during the day, relying on the ventilator when she is asleep.
Unlike when she first woke up from her 'neuroprotective' coma, the teenager has regained the ability to speak, in part thanks to a tracheostomy tube that was fitted into her neck.
“She can now talk as she would before, but her voice is huskier and she has an uncomfortable tube in her neck,” Stacey said, adding: “She was an avid singer and her voice has been taken away, that's been devastating for her.”
But there have been glimmers of hope for the heartbroken family too, including a surprising moment recently where Lexi was able to sit up by herself for 30 seconds - something medics did not think she would be able to do.
You can visit the family's GoFundMe page here.
Topics: Health
William Morgan