One family suffered tragedy after tragedy, seemingly unable to catch a break. But, through sheer will, determination, and the magic of doctors, they have finally managed to celebrate a change of fate.
Bella Chambasis and her family had one thing after another attack their lives. In 2009, a babysitter murdered her older sister at the age of 7. This shook the family deeply, but before they were able to fully overcome their grief, another disaster struck.
Only two years later, she lost her father to a motorcycle accident. The family was devastated, but Bella Chambasis still had her loving mother and her health. But, as they say, bad things come in threes, and even this started to deteriorate.
In 2021, the usually healthy and energetic 14-year-old began to show signs of illness. Lethargy and nosebleeds became common, and her health declined rapidly. The teen was unable to breathe or stand within only a few days of her initial sickness.
Her mother, Hurley, took her daughter to the hospital, where she was told the teen was very sick. She was suffering from an autoimmune disease known as ANCA-associated vasculitis. Quickly, her case became desperate, and her kidneys failed.
Despite initially seeming to improve, things quickly took a turn for the worse, and the teen suffered a stroke only a few months after being admitted to the hospital. This pushed her into a coma, and her mother was told to be prepared to lose another family member.
Against All Odds, Teen Fights Back
“They began having quality of life conversations with me, explaining how they could stop her dialysis and just let her renal functions shut down,” her mother told People, looking back on the traumatic time. “All I could think was, I’m not going to lose two daughters in the month of April.”
She sat by her daughter’s bed, day after day, hoping her health would improve, until finally she noticed her lips moving. She was singing along with a song her mother had been playing. Within five months, the teen could be discharged and leave, albeit in a wheelchair, still weak from the stroke.
Being a determined person, Bella didn’t let her illness slow her down. She strove to live a full life. Amid the various surgeries following her admission to the hospital, she worked to make up for lost time and still graduate. Her stroke and subsequent coma had caused the teen to miss nine months of college.
“I’m very hard on myself when I need to get something done. So when I went back to school, I did everything I could, always coming home and working into the night and going to summer school.”
And, she managed to achieve her goal. But this wasn’t enough. Despite being told she may never be strong enough to walk again, Bella was determined to receive her certificate on her own two feet. By adding physical rehabilitation to her schedule, she managed.