meet our patient ambassador Anaya!
Aniya is a vibrant teen with a strong zest for life – she loves roller coasters, acting and playing sports. Starting in December 2022, back-to-back injuries caused Aniya to become a “frequent flier” at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
When Aniya was 10, Aniya had an accident, and went to an adult emergency room. After hours of waiting and an X-ray, Aniya went home with a diagnosis of a sprained ankle, and an ACE bandage to support the ankle while it healed. Days later, Aniya was still hurting and her ankle didn’t seem to have improved at all. Her mom, Andrea, took Aniya to her pediatrician, who recommended they go to Dayton Children’s and get a second opinion.
Andrea and Aniya made an appointment with orthopedics at Dayton Children’s. X-rays showed Aniya had a break in her right shin bone (tibia).
“Going to Dayton Children’s ortho was the best thing we did – the doctor talked directly to Aniya, checking in to see how she was feeling, what was hurting her. She was treated like a person, and not just another patient in a hospital. Our visit was so wonderful,” Andrea shared.
Aniya was put in a cast (a pink one!) and started her path to healing. At the time, she had just started doing gymnastics, so this injury meant that Aniya would have to sit on the sidelines while she recovered. With her positive attitude, she thought this would be just a blip in her gymnastics journey.
“it feels like love here”
Unfortunately, just as Aniya was feeling better and recovering, she fell at school. she ended up back in another cast, this time for her wrist. And, devastatingly, it cost her the whole gymnastics season.
“I felt like I missed out completely, which made me feel empty, almost. I was doing all this hard work for nothing – I’d pushed myself so hard, and it kept shattering,” Aniya shared.
In fall 2023, Aniya had another injury, this time to her knee. At this point, Aniya was at a low. Losing out on the gymnastics season was not easy, and she didn’t want to have to go back to the hospital. Beyond that, Aniya was also being bullied at school because of all her injuries – people thought maybe she was faking it. Dayton Children’s became a safe place for Aniya, mostly due to the support, encouragement and acceptance of her care team.
“It really hurt to have my classmates not trust me, but then I came to Dayton Children’s and everyone rallied around me. They didn’t judge; they just took care of me. They felt like family,” Aniya shared.
The knee injury turned out to be a torn meniscus, or cartilage in the knee. her medical team tried treating the injury with physical therapy at first, but it eventually required surgery. Afterwards, Aniya came home with a wheelchair. Once again, she demonstrated her strength and drive and figured out how to live her best life in a wheelchair. She didn’t go at it alone, though – all along, she had the support of her family and her care team at Dayton Children’s.
Her care team was relentless about their encouragement and support to help keep Aniya positive. They knew how to keep her focused and motivated so she could recover and get back to doing the things she loved more quickly.
“Hospitals can feel scary, and this time in our lives was scary, but that’s the beautiful thing about Dayton Children’s – it feels fun, it feels colorful, it feels like love here. It’s just an amazing experience to have people support you when you don’t know what to do. Families deserve this great care, with caring people,” Andrea shared.
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