When six-year-old Jack began feeling sick during the fall and winter months last year, his parents, Bryan and Stephanie, weren’t entirely surprised. After all, the holiday season, with its twinkling lights and delicious treats, is also the season when illness seems to be everywhere. And yet, something wasn’t right.

“Jack and his sister would get the same cold but Makenna would bounce back really quickly, and Jack just wouldn’t.” All throughout last fall, Jack would get sick. “He was bedridden for weeks at a time,” his mom remembers. “He would just lie on the couch and couldn’t keep any food down. He lost about 15 – 17 pounds,” Stephanie says. While friends and family assured her that this was just a phase and that he was okay, deep down, she knew something was wrong. Eventually, Jack returned to school but only a few days later, his parents started seeing new symptoms. They called their family doctor who ordered a blood test.

It all started in August. St. Catharines parents Erin and Nick packed up their kids and camping gear, and were looking forward to a trip filled with family time and s’mores. Little did they know that their lives were about to change.

Erin
“It all began with my wife,” Nick explains. “She started getting sick while we were camping. She was feeling really awful, and then as soon as we got home, our son Eli started showing symptoms as well.”

Eli and Erin were bedridden for days, struggling with a bad cough and fever, and when Erin went to her family doctor, he determined that she had pneumonia. “He prescribed an antibiotic but it just didn’t seem to do anything for her,” Nick explains. “It got to a point where my wife could barely walk without me holding her up. All my instincts were saying that this is not right. Rest and antibiotics were supposed to help but they just weren’t.”