SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Amalia Romero’s life changed in August when she woke up in a panic, immediately asking her sister to drive her to urgent care.
At the time, the doctor told the 21-year-old to take some ibuprofen and Claritin, but less than 12 hours later she started hallucinating. Her mother Natalia Romero said she went from a healthy, active woman to being extremely paranoid and hearing voices in her head.
Amalia Romero’s father, Matthew Romero, said his daughter “literally thought she was dying” and became trapped in her own mind. They drove her to an emergency room where doctors attempted to take tests and scans while Amalia Romero screamed and ripped the IVs from her arm.
She attempted to run from the hospital when a security guard caught her and put her back on the bed. That’s when she started having seizures leading doctors to put her in a coma.
“They had to intubate her,” Natalia Romero said. “Since that day, she has not woken up.”
The Romeros said they watched their daughter go from traveling the world to losing control of her own body. Amelia Romero was transported to Utah to receive care at the University of Utah Hospital for a rare brain disorder.