When I met 2 year old Brittan Allison, he was a little shy, but immediately warmed up to our crew. Then I noticed something: his right arm didn’t move and he was walking along slowly dragging his right leg. Yet, he just smiled and laughed and played with his big brother just like any little kid. Only Brittan has endured more in his young life than most adults probably will in a lifetime.

Brittan was born with a heart condition and a rare blood condition that has led to three strokes which paralyzed his right side. So his pediatrician prescribed Plavix which is a blood thinner usually given to adult heart attack patients and the elderly. Brittan’s mom, Paige Allison, says so far the drug is working. She says she doesn’t worry about the fact that most of these adult drugs have not been tested in clinical trials on children. Brittan’s pediatrician at Duke Medical Center in Durham says drug companies need to do more research into developing pediatric versions of adult medications.

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Right now, doctors are guessing the appropriate dosages based on a child’s body weight. As far as Brittan’s parents are concerned, the drug is easy to administer and is much better than the alternative which is the danger of Brittan suffering another damaging or perhaps fatal stroke. The day we were there, Brittan showed us how he’s learned to get up the staircase at his house pretty fast even without full use of his right arm and leg.

A FAMILY’S STRENGTH

There is something I would like to add to this. The Allisons told us they don’t feel like they have it so bad. After all, they said, there are plenty of people out there having a tougher time with life’s struggles. I was so impressed with how loving and patient they were with Brittan, especially when it came time to take his meds. He cried and protested, but right after he took them, he was back up and running.

He walked over to me, grabbed the bracelets on my wrist, and just looked up at me and laughed like any toddler would.