Abbotsford curler left paralyzed by rare condition
A prominent local curler is facing the battle of her life after being diagnosed with a rare neurological condition.
Brooklyn Aleksic is taking on the fight of her life with a smile, raising her hands along with the beat of a hit pop song in a video shared by her family.
The 20-year-old University of Victoria student has been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, which developed in early June, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down.
The disorder occurs when a section of the spinal cord is inflamed.
Last month, while in Saskatchewan ahead of starting a summer job – Aleksic woke up and realized she couldn't move.
'Basically, within two hours of waking up that morning, she was completely paralyzed from her neck down,' explained her mother, Shannon Joanisse, speaking with CTV News from Regina General Hospital.
Joanisse, a well-known curler who has competed in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts five times, raised her daughter in Abbotsford.
'She has a huge circle of friends, she's a ray of light in everybody's life,' Joanisse said of her daughter. 'She's positive. She's a fighter, and Brooklyn thrives academically. She's going to UVic to become an elementary school teacher.'
Aleksic has had her own fame as well, appearing in the 2024 documentary Curl Power, which followed her Maple Ridge-based curling team.
The film was screened in theatres across Canada, tracking the ups and downs of the team as the girls pushed to compete in the Canadian Junior Curling Championships.
Aleksic's former curling coach Diane Dezura has started a GoFundMe – which has raised tens of thousands of dollars in support – and hopes to raise more.
The money will be used for a variety of things, from helping with Aleksic's transportation back to B.C. to – in the medium and longer term – things related to her rehabilitation and treatment.
'I just want to thank everybody that's reached out to our family,' Joanisse said. 'Complete strangers have reached out supporting us, and we can't thank them enough for that. Thank you to everyone.'
Transverse myelitis is incredibly rare, only affecting about one in a million people per year, and the family says the contributions could make all the difference.
But beyond money, what Aleksic and others with her condition really need is for people to donate plasma.
'At the end of this week, she will have had 14 plasma exchanges and each plasma exchange takes approximately almost 13 donors to provide enough plasma for one exchange,' explained Dezura. 'Brook will have had 14, and that totals 175 donors. So Brook, it's really important to her (to get the message out about plasma donation).'
The family is hopeful Aleksic will travel back to the Lower Mainland by next week, with the goal of one day being able to walk – and curl – again.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Research on gene therapy for rare inherited disease reduces costly, regular treatment
Dr. Michael West, a co-author and Dalhousie University researcher, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout HALIFAX — A researcher says the experimental use of gene therapy for a rare inherited disorder is saving almost as much money for treatment of five patients as the study itself costs. The early-stage study published last year found that three of the men being treated for Fabry disease were able to stop using enzyme-replacement therapy — which costs about $300,000 annually — once they started on the 'one-time' gene therapy. Dr. Michael West, a co-author and kidney specialist in Halifax, says the overall savings have been $3.7 million, against research costs to date of about $4 million — which was largely provided by the federal Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Fabry disease is a rare disorder that leaves the body unable to produce the correct version of an enzyme that breaks down fatty materials — leading to major damage to vital organs and shortened lifespans. Some people suffer various symptoms including pain in their hands and feet, intestinal problems and chronic fatigue. The gene therapy uses the stem cells taken from the men's bone marrow to deliver a replacement copy of the faulty gene. The research team wrote in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Medicine last year that one of the men with advanced kidney disease saw his condition stabilize, and the researchers also found that none of the men had major events such as heart attacks or kidney failure caused by Fabry over the last five years, West said. 'These patients are still producing more of the needed enzymes than they did prior to the gene therapy,' said the 72-year-old physician, who works at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax and is a professor at Dalhousie University. West said in other instances of gene therapy there's been instances of severe side effects from procedures, including the development of various forms of cancer. However, West said since the men received their gene therapy for Fabry between 2016 and 2018, there has been just two instances of side effects, neither of which were a direct result of the therapy itself. Rather, in one case, a chemotherapy drug used to 'make space' in bone marrow for grafting in modified cells caused a man's white blood cell count to fall. He was treated with antibiotics for a potential infection and recovered, West said. In a second case, a man developed a large bruise in his leg, which the researchers believe was due to possible side effects of the chemotherapy drug. West said while the research needs to go to larger-scale studies before it becomes conventional treatment, he believes it's worth pursuing due in part to the costs and 'the burden to patients' of the existing therapy. The specialist said that conventional enzyme-replacement therapy has to occur every two weeks, requiring approximately two hours for each treatment. Out of the roughly 540 people with Fabry in Canada, the researcher says about 100 are in Nova Scotia. It's believed the first person with the genetic mutation can be traced back to a French woman who immigrated to Lunenburg, N.S., in the colonial era, and her descendants carried the faulty gene through 18 generations that followed. 'Currently, there's some cases in Ontario, there's some in British Columbia, there's some in the U.K., some cases in Florida, but they all originated from here and they share the same mutation,' West said. West said the ultimate cost of gene therapy per patient has yet to be determined, as it first would have to be approved by the major regulatory agencies as an accepted treatment. But he said one option for inherited genetic diseases, where there is a relatively small group of patients, would be for government research agencies to develop and own the treatment themselves, and then earn fees to provide the treatments to other national health systems. West said he realizes the sample size is small, and the goal is now to create a similar study with 25 to 30 patients, including women, over a two- to three-year period. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025. By Michael Tutton
CTV News
5 hours ago
- CTV News
Golf tournament funds mental health, addiction care in the northeast
A golf fundraiser on July 31 will be hosted at the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club in support of Health Sciences North's mental health and addiction programs. Golfers will gather at the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club on July 31 for a charity tournament supporting mental health and addiction services through the Health Sciences North (HSN) Foundation. The event, hosted by the Sudbury and District Medical Society, features a nine-hole tournament and dinner, with proceeds going toward expanding mental health care across the region. 'Mental health is a priority, and it's not something you can always see with the eye, but it's just as serious to us,' said Chelsea Parent, a community engagement specialist with HSN Foundation. 'We see over 14,000 outpatients a year, and that number continues to rise.' Dr. Rayudu Koka + Chelsea Parent Dr. Rayudu Koka (left), president of the Sudbury and District Medical Society and a local psychiatrist and Chelsea Parent (right), a community engagement specialist with HSN Foundation at the Idylwylde Golf and Country in Greater Sudbury, Ont., on July 3, 2025, to talk about an upcoming fundraising golf event in support of the foundation hosted by the medical society. (Alana Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario) Dr. Rayudu Koka, president of the Sudbury and District Medical Society and a local psychiatrist, cited multiple factors behind the increasing demand for mental health services. 'Socioeconomic conditions, employment problems, and also substance use seem to be on the rise, especially in northern Ontario – and Sudbury is not an exception here,' said Dr. Koka. 'That seems to be the problem we are facing.' Despite these challenges, Dr. Koka noted a positive trend: more people are seeking help without fear of judgment. 'The stigma still exists but [it's] much better now. People are educated, people seem to be coming forward more and more without that stigma being attached to their illness, because anyone can be ill,' he said. Funds raised will also support HSN's outpatient mental health services in Blind River, Elliot Lake, Espanola, Little Current, and St. Charles, expanding access to care across northeastern Ontario.
CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
Golf tourney to aid mental health, addiction services
A golf fundraiser on July 31 will be hosted at the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club in support of Health Sciences North's mental health and addiction programs. Alana Everson has more.
