A Grandmother's Instinct Saved Lives From Deadly Tick-Borne Illness

In the summer of 1985, an 8-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother were admitted to a Florida hospital with severe symptoms, including high fevers, red spots, light sensitivity, and loss of bowel control. Doctors were unable to diagnose their condition, and the children were given only days to live.

Their grandmother, Beverly, a secretary and avid reader, was at home when she encountered an article in one of her magazines that described symptoms identical to those of her grandchildren. Without hesitation, she took the magazine to the hospital and shared it with the doctors. The article was about Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a potentially deadly bacterial disease transmitted by infected ticks.

Within hours of her intervention, the children began receiving treatment for the disease. While the author, Jennifer Saterdal, spent months recovering and repeated a grade, she ultimately survived. The experience profoundly shaped her understanding of the importance of paying attention and trusting one's intuition, even without medical expertise.

"She paid attention, and she believed what she felt. It wasn’t because she had special training or a healthcare background," Saterdal wrote about her grandmother. "She always paid attention to the people she loved, to the world around her and to the information passing through her hands on any given afternoon."

The Growing Threat of Tick-Borne Illness

Saterdal's personal experience underscores a continuing public health concern. Four decades after her own illness, tick-borne diseases remain a significant issue, with an increasing number of cases. An estimated 31 million Americans are bitten by ticks annually, and emergency room visits for tick bites have seen a notable rise.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever, in particular, is still frequently misdiagnosed. This is partly due to the absence of its characteristic rash in more than half of early cases and the expanding geographic range of ticks, which can catch both patients and medical professionals off guard. The disease's name also historically misled diagnosticians in regions where it was not commonly expected, a challenge that persists today.

Saterdal recounts a personal experience six years prior when her husband found five ticks embedded in his skin after a walk on a paved path in Washington state, highlighting how easily tick exposure can occur even in non-wilderness settings.

The Enduring Power of Vigilance

Saterdal emphasizes that the same action that saved her and her brother—an ordinary person paying close attention and acting on informed suspicion—remains crucial for preventing and diagnosing tick-borne illnesses today. She advocates for a heightened sense of awareness and encourages individuals to speak up when something feels amiss, regardless of their professional background.

"Paying attention is not a superpower you’re born with. It comes with practice," Saterdal wrote. "I have never once spoken up for someone I love and wished I had stayed quiet. Not once. Being wrong only stings for a second. Being right when it matters is something else entirely. It can save a life. I learned that from my grandma."

Jennifer Saterdal, a tick-borne illness survivor, authored the book "Bitten: A Tick Survivor’s Warning About the Growing Tick Crisis" and continues to raise awareness about the escalating threat of tick-borne diseases and diagnostic challenges.