Francisco, Age 27, Chicago, IL

In 2015 Francisco was an average 22 year old, awaiting his day to ship out to basic training for the United States Navy. In the weeks leading up to his going away party Francisco started to have flu like symptoms and a severe headache. Thinking nothing of it he continued…

Alessandro, Age 11

Mio figlio, Alessandro ora ha 11 anni. Tutto è iniziato una mattina.All'età di tre anni appena svegliato ha avuto una brutta crisi epilettica con perdita di coscienza. All'ospedale dopo tanto spavento, ha ripreso conoscenza e ha iniziato ad avere disturbi del movimento e crisi di assenze. Trasferito in un ospedale…

Angie, Age 39, Cincinnati, OH

Six months ago I nearly lost my life to Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis. A mostly rare condition, however very often misdiagnosed, therefore making it rather challenging to fully determine the scale of those truly affected by this life threatening and horrific condition. I am by all accounts a healthy, active, and…

Aleena, Age 23, Maryland

Hey! I'm Aleena. I was working at a preschool at the time and was attending a community college. I was really struggling with depression and suicidal tendencies, which impacted my academic performance. I started feeling drained around December 2015 and once January 2016 came, I hardly had the energy to…

Yasmin, Age 18

Yasmin became ill on 10/06/2011 and was diagnosed with Anti NMDA Receptor Encephalitis. On the 6th day she stopped breathing and was put on full life-support where she remained for 15 long months sedated with Propophol, Ketamine and other medications. Repeated MRI scans failed to locate the tiny teratoma that…

Elliott, Age 15, Sarasota FL

This is my son Elliott. He’s a friendly, soccer-lover and a member of the JROTC Raiders Varsity team of his school. He was in his freshman year trying to adjust to a new school until last September, when he started complaining about a weird taste in his mouth, to the…

Juliana, 19 years old, Miami, Florida

It all started in the first week of my freshman year in high school when I was only 14 years old. I began to get very anxious all the time, I would have fuzzy thoughts and I was not able to concentrate during class. I thought this was all part…

Tatiana, 18 years old, San Luis Obispo, CA

At only 7 years old my life changed forever. During a family get together in August of 2008 my father found me unresponsive, I was just looking to the side, staring into space. I was taken to the hospital where my family was told it was a seizure. I was…

Megan’s Story, 22 years old, France

Hello, my name is Megan, I am French, a student and I am 25 years old. With these few words I will tell you "my story". In 2016, two months after my 22 birthday, I had autoimmune encephalitis with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies; Said like that (put a name on what…