Parents of a 3-year-old Harrells younster are asking for prayers for their young daughter who is currently battling for her life at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Katie Whitman was diagnosed with a very rare form of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and is in critical condition at the hospital.

According to Katie’s father, Troy, the entire ordeal came as a surprise, with the child coming down with what they thought was regular, flu-like symptoms on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

“We took her to the doctors that Wednesday; she was running a bit of a fever,” he said. “At the time, we didn’t think there was anything else to it except the flu ... She was diagnosed with having pneumonia and an upper respiratory infection.”

Whitman said his daughter was given a prescription and, other than a few side effects, everything seemed normal.

“Her grandmother promised to take her to the circus that following Sunday, whiich she did. But afterwards, we noticed that she was really swollen in her chest area and especially on her sides. It was like she was struggling to breathe.”

Whitman said they called the doctor to ask for help.

“They told us to give her Benedry because of the symptoms,” he said.

However, before they gave Katie the medicine, they had her grandmother, who is an emergency room nurse, call her colleagues to see if they could offer any additional help.

“They told us not tot give her the medicine and bring her in right away,” Whitman explained. “When we got there, they called UNC Hospitals immediately.”

Katie was airlifted to Chapel Hill and went immediately into surgery. “She had a stroke that same night,” the distraught father said tearfully. “It has been a lot (to go through) in just a short time, but she has been a fighter.”

Whitman said his daughter is battling two very severe conditions. HUS is characterized by the triad of hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure. The only distinguishing feature is that in TTP, fever and neurological symptoms are often present; but it is not always the case. The two conditions are sometimes treated as a single entity called “TTP/HUS”.

“HUS is basically the same thing, but the TTP part of it affects the brain,” he said. “The HUS is shutting down the kidneys and the bodily functions ... We asked the doctors how she got it, they told us that it is very rare. There are only 300 known cases in the United States. They told us that the type that my Katie has is one in a million. They also told us that there is no way we could have detected it because it is so rare. We have no idea how she got it, but it is sort of a blessing ... now, she does have a chance, we just have to keep praying hard for her.”

And those prayers will be needed even more today.

“She took some tests yesterday (Sunday) and we really thought they were going to come back good,” Whitman said, his voice breaking, “We thought that the blood was breaking up, and the tests came back today and it showed that is wasn’t, which is not what we wanted to hear. But we are still keeping our spirits up because her doctor still believes that she will get better, and that is what we are praying for.”

When asked if he had a message to send to the people of Sampson County, Whitman said, “I just want to tell everyone that we appreciate all the prayers and all the support we have received. We just hope that everyone will keep Katie in their prayers — that is the best thing they can do for us. Right now, it is all up to God.”

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or send e-mail to sisports@myclintonnc.com.