Ambassador Jayden Liuzza
In 2009, I was a healthy 3-year-old girl who was socially active and outgoing. Suddenly things started to change for the worse. It started off with an odd walk, twitching and flu like symptoms. It eventually led to the point where I couldn’t recognize my family and began lashing out at them violently. Doctors continued to run tests that came back with results saying there was nothing wrong. As tests came back normal and I progressively got worse, I was admitted to SickKids Hospital in Toronto. I spent weeks there continuously being tested with no hope of recovery. It wasn’t until a doctor recognized my symptoms from something she had been studying and was able to run my spinal fluid for testing. Thanks to her help, I was diagnosed with anti NMDAR encephalitis. My immune system attacked my brain and I forgot how to do basic activities. Thanks to her I am now a 15-year-old girl, in my second year of high school and I am more outgoing than ever. I am currently a SicKids Ambassador where I focus on raising awareness for anti NMDAR encephalitis while raising funds for the hospital. I believe that it is important that we all share our stories so that more people can be diagnosed and treated.