OAK FOREST, IL — An Oak Forest teen and Oak Forest High School freshman remains paralyzed in intensive care, with her family and friends rallying around as she’s gripped by sudden illness.
Paityn Castillo and her family are facing the unknown stemming from a rare autoimmune condition that struck the 14-year-old late last month.
On Oct. 22, Castillo, 14, had just finished her season on the Oak Forest High School volleyball team, when she noticed stiffness and tingling in her legs. Initial test results of strep seemed incomplete, and with increasing pain and weakness in her legs, her doctor referred them to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn for additional testing. Within hours, Paityn’s condition worsened—by that night, she could no longer walk.
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Just three days after her initial symptoms, Paityn was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune response to an illness causing nerve damage. The nerve damage can cause weakness, numbness and paralysis. Castillo has been in the intensive care unit for weeks and remains on a ventilator, close family friend Erin Postovalov told Patch. She’s started a GoFundMe to support the family.
“She’s very, very sick,” Postovalov said, adding that she’s now developing pneumonia. “The hope is she’ll fully recover. The timeline—what the doctors keep telling her family—is that there’s no timeline for it. It’s so rare, and everybody reacts different to it. … Could be mostly back to normal in a few months, or it could be years. They don’t really have a timeline to go by, which is also very difficult.”
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Paityn’s life has taken a sharp turn. The self-professed Swiftie had been set to see pop icon Taylor Swift perform at one of her Indianapolis stops—plans that were abruptly canceled amidst her illness. Nurses and medical staff, though, went all out to lift her spirits, Postovalov said.
“Her wonderful nurses decorated her whole room in Taylor Swift,” she said. “They made her friendship bracelets, they turned the concert on.”
They even brought in a life-sized, cardboard cutout of the songstress herself. They were small touches that went a long way for the teen, whose whole world almost seems paused. She’s aware of everything around her, though, and longs for a sense of normalcy.
“She has a ton of friends,” Postovalov said, and they’re helping her stay on top of her social media contributions via Snapchat.
“She is very invested in keeping her Snapchat streaks going,” she laughed. “Everyday somebody from her family goes through her snaps and responds.”
Castillo had been looking forward to returning to her club volleyball team, and trying badminton at the school. For now, it’s all on hold. The teen—who had graduated from St. Christopher in Midlothian—was in the midst of the shift from private to public school.
“She’s just starting to meet people, find her place in high school, and now she’s not there,” Postovalov.
Castillo’s parents Sandy and Reggie are also scrambling to shift time and attention. Sandy is a preschool teacher at Prairie-Hill School District 144; Reggie is a firefighter in Arlington Heights. Unplanned time off for both can be difficult on finances. Her sister Kamryn is a junior at Oak Forest High School, with college consideration and planning in limbo.
“Your life goes on, and all of these things are kind of just sitting there,” Postovalov said.
As uncertainty lingers, the family is grateful for the support shown for Paityn.
“They are so grateful for all the support they’ve already received,” Postovalov said. “They’re very overwhelmed, they’re taken aback by how loved and supported she’s been throughout this whole process.”
The GoFundMe has raised more than $14,000 to date.
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