PAYGE’S STORY Payge was rushed to LLU Children’s Hospital in July of 2018 after being removed from her home by San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies. She had been extremely malnourished and neglected. At three months of age, Payge was skeletal looking. “She had a significant yeast infection on her skin under her neck, in her diaper area and legs,” said Melissa Siccama, MD, a forensic pediatrician at Children’s Hospital. “She was very cachectic, meaning she had no subcutaneous fat on her body. You could see her ribs, her sternum — you could see her bones.” Siccama told the deputies that if they had not found Payge, she could have died within several days. “Her case was one of the worst cases that I have ever seen,” Siccama said. Doctors like Siccama and Amy Young-Snodgrass, MD, who specialize in child abuse pediatrics at Children’s Hospital, were committed to Payge’s care and determined to help her survive. After days in the hospital, Payge began to improve and gain weight under the watchful and attentive care of the physicians, nurses and staff. Her recovery was nothing short of miraculous. Now three years old and thriving, Payge is in the loving care of her forever family. Her former foster family adopted her in 2020. Payge’s mother, Dawn Huff, says she loves LLU Children's Hospital and is thankful for the community effort that brought Payge into her family’s life. “I look back at the scrapbook I’ve made of her photos and am shocked to see how tiny and sickly she was,” Dawn says. “She was this emaciated baby so close to death and now she’s going to turn three and is just amazing — her personality, the fighting spirit she has. She’s come so far.”
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