Andee Poulos was a 14-year-old girl just like any other, but her story is anything but ordinary. One day, after swim practice, Andee suffered from a migraine that was so severe, she was unresponsive in the back seat of her mother’s car as they drove home.
Once they got to the hospital, doctors put Andee in a drug-induced coma. What they didn’t know was that the underlying problem causing her migraines was more serious than they realized…
Fourteen-year-old Andee Poulos grew up just like any other healthy child. Though her mother notes that she had some headaches, they never seemed out of the ordinary.
However, in January 2011, she came out of swim practice complaining of a particularly severe headache. She got in the car to be driven home, but was nearly unresponsive by the time they arrived.
Her mother Lyn called the pediatrician, who said that it seemed like nothing more than a migraine but suggested they go for a checkup at the hospital. There, a couple tests and a CT scan discovered that the problem was far more severe.
he doctors then put an external drain into her head to relieve the pressure.
Though Andee was put in a drug-induced coma and spent seven hours in surgery, the move saved her life.
Months later, Andee began her daunting recovery process but she bravely pushed through it all, including the three hours of speech O.T. and P.T.
Just like the two brothers who were left paralyzed after a devastating car accident, she never gave up through all of the challenges that came her way, and her family, friends, and doctors were right there by her side.
"She hasn't done the ‘Why me?'," her proud mother notes. Instead, the brave young girl has been focused on improving her health day by day and has proven that she has an inspirationally resilient spirit. Andee, who now walks with a cane, is a college-bound senior in high school at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School. She is the manager of the Holy Innocents' softball team, and was recently honored by the Atlanta Braves as an Atlanta Hero and when she went to accept the award at the Braves game, she walked onto the field without her cane!
Andee and her support group founded Andee's Army to provide financial assistance to children and adolescents who are receiving medical treatment and care for brain and spinal cord injuries.
