MONROE — The calls and e-mails poured in.
People wanted to help Alaina Arnold, an ill Monroe girl who is stuck south of the equator with her parents.
Nurses in Washington offered to fly to Brazil to help bring the 23-month-old girl home after seeing media coverage of her plight.
Officials with the U.S. State Department reached out to the family. Monroe firefighters who work alongside Alaina’s father, Stacy Arnold, started organizing a silent auction.
While the girl remains in Brazil with her parents and sister, relatives in Monroe said Alaina and her family are getting the help they need.
More importantly, Alaina is feeling better.
“She is stable,” said grandmother Cynthia Arnold. “She is now walking down the halls and running. She hadn’t been.”
Trouble started for Alaina after she flew to Brazil with her family. The trip was supposed to last from Dec. 19 to Jan. 14 — a holiday visit with Alaina’s other grandmother, Marta Zenger.
Days after their arrival, however, Alaina developed a fever. More serious medical problems followed.
She developed abscesses on a kidney. Four of her organs became enlarged. Her temperature hit 106.5 degrees.
Doctors in Brazil suspect the abscesses were caused by an urinary tract infection, relatives said. Other issues have yet to be explained, they said.
Alaina was put on an antibiotic treatment that shrunk the abscesses and reduced the swelling in her organs. Her temperature stayed down, relatives said.
Doctors may clear Alaina to fly home by Feb. 2, if not sooner, relatives said.
As the family waits for the doctors’ OK, firefighters in Monroe are planning a silent auction for the Arnolds.
Alaina’s parents, Stacy and Eloise Arnold, have been kept away from work for nearly two weeks by their daughter’s illness.
Expenses have stacked up: for a rental car, food, international phone calls. Alaina’s parents also don’t know if their health insurance will cover all of Alaina’s medical bills, relatives said.
Patrick Gjerde works alongside Stacy Arnold at the Monroe Fire Department. Gjerde said the community has been generous donating to the silent auction.
Items for sale will include a custom fishing rod, a tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln and computer accessories.
Gjerde hopes the auction will help the young family with its bills.
“We’re going to take care of them as much as we can,” he said.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.
Auction aids Alaina
Firefighters in Monroe will hold a silent auction from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, to benefit the Arnold family. The auction will be held in a training room at the Monroe Fire Department, 163 Village Court. Items for sale will include a custom fishing rod and a guided tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
More info: 360-794-7666 or patrick@firehousedinners.com.
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