A local mom is saying to trust your intuition when it comes to your child's health.
Katelynn Hawes says it started when her three-month-old daughter, Evalynn Brunelle, was running a fever and not acting like herself on Christmas Day.
Hawes brought her to Erie Shores HealthCare where Evalynn was triaged, and tests such as blood work and a chest x-ray were completed, however they came back clear - with the doctors saying it was likely a cold - and they were sent home.
By the next day, Evalynn hadn't improved. They decided to take her to Windsor Regional Hospital - Met Campus for a second opinion - one that likely saved Evalynn's life.
Additional tests were run, and Evalynn was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. She was transferred to Victoria Children's Hospital in London right away, where Katelynn says a CT scan showed fluid on Evalynn's brain, and showed signs of multiple strokes and seizures.
Evalynn has already shown huge signs of improvements, with Hawes saying she's less lethargic, more alert, more awake, and is even smiling, but Hawes says the concern now is the long-term effects, and how far the damage on Evalynn's brain is.
Hawes says if they hadn't gotten a second opinion, Evalynn could have died.
"The whole point of this is we just want to spread the message to always trust your intuition, trust your gut. If you feel like something is wrong, there's a good chance something is wrong. You know your baby best."
She says she was shocked by the care they received at Erie Shores HealthCare.
"They made us feel like we were there for absolutely no reason, and our baby was fine, and we were crazy. They made us feel like there was nothing wrong. There was just absolutely no reassurance, we got no answers at all, it was terrible. And the second we went to Met, they listened, we felt heard with everything we expressed to them. Just overall, it was like night and day."
Hawes says as Evalynn improves, her concern is long-term.
"We won't know any of those effects for a very long time, it's just about monitoring her, and those developmental milestones along the way, and seeing what areas she'll need help with."
Hawes says she and her partner, Quentin Brunelle, will be in London with Evalynn for the next four to six weeks, while their 2-year-old son Luka Hawes remains in Windsor with family.
Hawes adds that an additional MRI will be done on Friday to see if the infection is still there or if it's slowly going away.
A GoFundMe for the family has been launched.
Erie Shores HealthCare posted on social media that they're aware of the situation, and they've launched a third-party review into the incident. Hawes says that Erie Shores called her personally to apologize for the incident.
