Jade and her mom. (KCRG TV photo)
The family of an Eastern Iowa girl who lost her sight because of the flu says she has recovered her sight and they are still working through all that happened in the past couple of months.
Four-year-old Jade DeLucia made national news headlines this winter when she got a severe case of the flu before Christmas and complications caused her to go blind. Jade’s mom, Amanda Phillips, told KCRG TV from Parkersburg that it was almost a fatal case.
“It was terrifying. It was awful,” Phillips recalled. University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital Doctor Theresa Czech met Jade when she was on full life support in the pediatric ICU. She says Jade had something that doesn’t happen very often. “It’s a rare complication of an essentially rare complication,” Doctor Czech says.
After each low point though, Jade would bounce back. A few weeks after leaving the hospital, Phillipps says she regained her sight. “It’s just amazing what the brain could do to heal that kind of damage so she could see again — it’s just amazing,” Phillips said.
At a recent checkup, Czech saw Jade’s transformation from a critically ill four-year-old patient, to a regular four-year-old. Jade and her family are hopeful for a healthy future for little Jade and are looking forward to being able to celebrate Christmas that Jade can see for herself. Jade has an appointment with an eye specialist to find out what’s next in her healing process. Czech said as Jade starts kindergarten, doctors will continue to monitor her development.