California boy, 13, left in grim condition after coming down with rare disease

A California boy who was once a healthy, soccer-loving teenager is now fighting to regain the use of his legs after a seemingly harmless mosquito bite triggered a devastating medical nightmare. Joseph Vasquez, 13, of Long Beach, has been bedridden at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for three weeks after contracting West Nile virus and developing transverse myelitis, a rare neurological condition that causes severe inflammation of the spinal cord, according to a GoFundMe launched by his family.The frightening ordeal began with what appeared to be ordinary mosquito bites but quickly spiraled into a life-altering medical crisis.Joseph initially developed a full-body rash, mild headache, leg pain and low-grade fever.But his symptoms rapidly worsened, eventually leaving him unable to move either leg.The teen also experienced excruciating abdominal pain, a stiff neck and loss of bladder and bowel control as his condition deteriorated.Doctors initially diagnosed Joseph with transverse myelitis and began treating him with steroids.

After days in intensive care and extensive testing, they determined that West Nile virus was behind the devastating complications.Now, the boy who once spent his days playing soccer, hanging out with his cousins and cheering on the Dodgers, Raiders and Lakers is facing an uncertain road to recovery.“Today, Joseph is facing challenges no 13-year-old should ever have to face,” his family wrote on the fundraiser.“He has lost the use of his legs, loss of bladder and bowel control, and is in excruciating nerve pain from the lower back down to his feet.”The family said doctors have warned that Joseph’s condition is extraordinarily rare, with limited research available to predict how his recovery might unfold.His mother, Maria Salazar, a widowed mother of three, has remained at his bedside around the clock.

But the heartbreaking ordeal has also created a financial crisis for the family.As the household’s sole provider, Salazar has been ...