Key Takeaways
People have been searching about Take Care of Maya’s Maya Kowalski illness. She suffered from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) when she was just 9. The latest documentary about her has been released on Netflix.
A new documentary on Netflix called “Take Care of Maya“, chronicles Maya Kowalski and her family’s story about a complicated medical case and a court battle followed by a misfortune in the family.
It was back in 2016 when a little girl called Maya Kowalski, 10 years of age, was taken in at the emergency department of John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. She complained of excruciating pain that seemed to baffle the caregivers and doctors at the hospital she was rushed to. She had been at the hospital for about seven days writhing and screaming from pain and wanted to see her mother. Still, based on a social worker’s reports, a court judge ruled that Maya should be separated from her parents and sheltered at All Children’s Hospital, on grounds of suspected medical child abuse.
Who Is Maya Kowalski?
Maya Kowalski is at the center of a very haunting medical case of child abuse that ultimately led to her mother’s suicide in 2016. When she was only ten years old, Maya was admitted to John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for treatment, after suffering from insufferable pain. But after a week of staying at the hospital and undergoing varied investigations, the doctors established that her symptoms were all in her head – they were not real. Doctors at that hospital believed that her mother was fabricating this illness due to a medical condition called “Munchausen syndrome by proxy”, which prompts a child’s caregivers to conjure conditions, to gain concern and sympathy from other people.
Upon this conclusion, the hospital contacted the child welfare department of Florida, which ruled that Maya be separated from her mother Beata Kowalski, and be prevented from visiting her. Three months after this ruling, when her mother was prohibited from visiting her daughter, Beata Kowalski killed herself by hanging in the garage of their family house in the following year, i.e., in January 2017.
Maya Kowalski, now 17 years old, and her family comprising her father and brother, have filed a lawsuit worth 220 million USD, against the hospital, with allegations that the actions of its staff culminated in her mother’s suicide.
However, conclusions drawn by the hospital about Maya’s condition were not correct as per the Kowalski family, and Maya was indeed suffering from a kind of medical condition.
Maya Kowalski Illness Details
Maya Kowalski was diagnosed with a scarce variety of chronic painful conditions known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) when she was only 9 years old. She frequently complained of excruciating pain and constipation and symptoms also included extreme weakness of muscles and a burning sensation.
CRPS is a legitimate and rare neurological condition, afflicting about 200,000 individuals a year in the USA, and is marked by excessive pain triggered by an injury to the legs or arms. Symptoms typically involve excessive or spontaneous pain that is much more intense than normal and varies in intensity and makes the skin excessively sensitive to even the lightest of touch. This condition can affect anyone but is more prevalent among women under 40 and those with pre-existing autoimmune and inflammatory conditions such as asthma.
Owing to its unusual symptoms and rarity, CRPS can be extremely difficult to diagnose and treat; which probably prompted a doctor to doubt Maya Kowalski’s complaints and accuse her mother of faking her daughter’s illness. This allegation denied Maya’s parents her custody and kept them separated for months, after which her mother Beata committed suicide.
To date, there is no cure for CRPS, other than pain management, and while this condition might improve with age, for many it becomes a lifelong medical battle that brings disability and discomfort.
Her Settlement Details
The last time Maya saw her mother was when she was admitted to the hospital when she was just ten years old; she is now seventeen. In 2018, the Kowalski family sued All Children’s Hospital in Sarasota County and sought punitive and compensatory damages that are worth 220 million dollars.
The case mentions that Maya was subjected to months of involuntary stay at the hospital and was forced to undergo agonizing physical therapy that aggravated her CRPS condition. After spending three months at the hospital, when her brother Kyle and father Jack, along with their family priest, came to visit her and shared the news of her mother’s suicide, they were allowed no time to comfort and were asked to leave immediately.
Maya testified in court wearing a necklace that she had bought for her mom, who was wearing it when she took her own life. She alleges that the hospital staff battered her, was negligent towards her and even fraudulently charged her insurance company about 536,000 USD for treating a condition that the doctors said she did not have.
This case is still going on, and the entire story has been made into a Netflix documentary that you can watch now.
About The Author
This Article Is Written By WMDR Team. Our Vision Is To Create A Community Where A Woman Can Get Access To All The Free Resources To Help Her In Her Health, Mental Wellness, And In her Personal Relationships.