This Saturday, her family has scheduled a welcome home party for the Westside Elementary School 1st grader. She wants to have a big 'welcome home party' and then go shopping. Tai was diagnosed with meningococcemia, one of a few bacterial diseases that can kill an infected person within hours. The bacteria invades the blood stream. An infected child may have flulike symptoms and a high fever, develop a purple rash and rapidly become unresponsive.
Death can occur within hours of the onset.
Among survivors, amputations of extremities or permanent neurological damage is frequent. Tai has been hospitalized since Feb. 15, first at Children's Hospital in the Twin Cities, and then she was transferred to the burn unit at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. She's been undergoing skin grafts to replace her infected skin. Tammy said Friday the skin grafts are going very well. There is some scarring around Tai's eye, ear, stomach, arms and legs, but the family is optimistic the scars will fade with time.