Rehoboth Beach resident Tina Knight is on the road to recovery, but it's going to be a long journey.
It's been more than a month since a heart attack put Litenia “Tina” Knight in a Florida hospital, where she was stuck for about three weeks before her family could raise the money needed to bring her back home.
The Knights, who live together in a small house off Hebron Road, traveled to Florida in early August thanks to an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tina's grandson, Larry Oliver Jr., who goes by LJ, was nominated for a wish by a family friend who shared his story with the charitable organization.
LJ, much like his grandmother, suffers from a sickle cell disorder. While he doesn't need blood transfusions as regularly as his 60-year-old grandmother, the 3-year-old has seen the inside of a hospital more times than many – he's been hospitalized at Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children more than a dozen times and suffered his first sickle cell crisis a month before his first birthday. He also has asthma, an enlarged spleen and a speech delay to battle on a daily basis.
The family had just arrived in Florida when Tina's health suddenly deteriorated. She suffered a heart attack, which left her pulseless for 13 minutes and caused brain damage because of a lack of oxygen, said her 31-year-old daughter, Ashley Knight.
For three weeks, Tina stayed in the hospital while friends and family scrambled to raise the money to bring her back to Delmarva. It took $7,000 and an 18-hour ride, but she finally arrived at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore in late August.
“I didn't know of anywhere else where she'd get the aggressive treatment she needs,” Ashley said. “My mom would do anything for anyone. She would take the shirt off her back if she had to, or give her last dollar. And to see everyone come together, not just moneywise, but in prayer and with encouraging words, really has helped.”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation also helped during the difficult times. As the family did their best to make the trip to Disney worthwhile for little LJ despite Tina's dire medical condition, the organization refunded her portion of the trip, which helped cover the cost of an elongated stay for Ashley.
Sinai was the family's first choice for Tina's treatment because Ashley's sister, Tania Brown, works as a physical therapist there and is able to check on Tina regularly, while Ashley makes the trip every weekend and whenever she can in between.
“Every day is an improvement, but it's still a long road,” Ashley said. “All this is new to me. I'm just praying. She's determined. She's strong.”
Brown said Tina has made huge strides in her time at Sinai. By the second week of September, Tina was taking steps with the assistance of a walker during physical therapy treatments, and while she still has problems with her vision, she can see some shapes and differentiate some colors, Brown said.
“She is making great strides in rehab,” Brown said. “She continues to need a lot of help, though. When there’s an injury to the brain, and in this case an anoxic injury, you see most of the recovery in the first three to six months. After that, you still see some recovery, but it’s not as huge in volume. It’s imperative that you’re very aggressive in the beginning, which is why I fought really hard to get her here at Sinai.”
Because she’s done so well in therapy, Brown said, Sinai has extended Tina’s stay an extra week in hopes that she will make enough progress to return home instead of being discharged and sent to an assisted-living facility.
“She is truly a trouper,” Brown said. “She is such a fighter.”
Tina is able to talk and has increased some mobility, such as the ability to help get in and out of her bed or wheelchair, but she is mostly blind and may never walk on her own again. But she’s come a long way from the original grim outlook provided by doctors in Florida.
“When the doctors told me there's no hope, I said, 'No. No way,'” Ashley said. “I'm not counting my mom out.”
In order to care for her young son and make regular trips to the hospital to check on her mom, Ashley had to quit her job at the Boys & Girls Club in Milford. She's struggling to figure out whether insurance will cover the remaining costs of her transport and hospital stays while still making sure the rent is paid and the power stays on.
This month, Tina likely will be discharged from Sinai to either head home or to an assisted-living facility. Ashley said she plans to get a medical assistant certificate from Sussex Tech by the end of the year so she can get back to work while LJ is in school. But for now, Ashley is focused on doing what she can to give her son the best life possible and support her mom during recovery.
“It's hard, but I have to stay strong for them,” she said.
Ashley said she and her family can use donations of any kind. People can email Ashley at ALKnight1129@yahoo.com to offer help or send donations payable to the Litenia N. Knight Benefit Account to Fulton Bank, 34346 Carpenters Way, Lewes, DE 19958.