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Healthier Children. A Better World.™

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Our Kids - Meet Gabrielle

Shortly after Gabrielle was born, her grandmother discovered blood under her head. Gabrielle’s parents rushed her to the hospital, and she was diagnosed with a Strep A infection under her skin. The infection had been transferred from her mother’s womb.

Gabrielle

Gabrielle, Necrotizing Fasciitis

Gabrielle was transferred to SickKids Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and was diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis, more commonly known as flesh-eating disease, and Necrotizing Enterocolitis.  The Strep A bacteria had eaten away the back of her small head and two thirds of her small intestine. Gabrielle lost 90 per cent of her skin on her scalp and 40 per cent of her bowel.


Gabrielle was in the NICU for 7 1/2 months, in General Surgery (5B) for four months, and in and out of SickKids several times due to viruses and infections.  In her short life, she has endured multiple skin allografts (from donor skin) and autografts (from her own skin), surgical repairs of her small intestine, a jejunostomy (a feeding tube put into the small intestine), and a g-tube (another feeding tube), and additional medical procedures to address reflux. 


After 315 days, Gabrielle finally left the hospital which had been her home. Gabrielle started eating regular meals and drinking water shortly after being discharged in March 2005. Within six months of leaving SickKids, she was weaned off of all but two of her medications.


Gabrielle loves spending time with her cousins and her dog, Chester. She also loves attending daycare twice a week where she has learned to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Last month, Gabrielle underwent an additional surgery to replace lost skin on her scalp.

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