Farmington family enjoys special Christmas with daughter's recovery

FARMINGTON -- It is rare indeed when the mere presence of a player prompts a standing ovation from fans gathered to support opposing teams.

That happened on Nov. 27 at the Prairie Grove arena when Farmington sophomore guard Makenna Vanzant checked into a game for the first time since mid-October, when she was hospitalized with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a life-threatening illness.

Vanzant was greeted on her return with an outburst of emotion that began at courtside and spread throughout the arena into a standing ovation.

"It was every adjective you could imagine," Farmington coach Brad Johnson said. "Special, emotional, just even talking about it now I get chill bumps kind of going back through, knowing that young lady steps on the floor to a standing ovation on both sides."

Prairie Grove junior guard Lexie Madewell felt the emotion as well from the opposing bench for her friend, whom she has known since the two started square dancing together when Lexie was 4 and Makenna was 3.

"What Makenna faced was scary and to see her back out there was a moment of rejoicing," Madewell said. "Me and my teammates were cheering and clapping for her, even though she was our opponent that night. We were so glad to see she was better after what she'd been through."

SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH MAKENNA

Makenna is a standout player who averaged 15.5 points in 31 games as a freshman. So Johnson knew something was wrong when Makenna's mother texted him in October and said her daughter wouldn't be at practice.

"Makenna doesn't miss basketball practice, I swear," Johnson said. "I think she could break her leg and she would still come to practice. At that point, I knew something was going on and it progressively got worse and went downhill faster than I ever could have imagined."

Twelve hours.

That's the short time period Monica Vanzant said her daughter went from being a happy and active teenager to being seriously ill in a hospital bed in Little Rock. The seriousness of Makenna's illness began to sink in for the Vanzant family hours after she woke her mother near midnight on Oct. 18 complaining of stomach pains.

"Makenna woke me up and she never wakes me up, probably since she was a baby," Monica said. "She was doubled over hurting and she said 'Mom, I have a stomach ache.' You think it's just a stomach virus but, come to find out, it was much worse."

Makenna's condition worsened the next morning and she was taken to a walk-in clinic in Fayetteville, where Dr. Ann-Marie Magre quickly realized something was seriously wrong.

"One of our nurse practitioners came and got me, and I recognized the name on the cup through basketball," Magre said. "I knew she was the kid from Farmington who played. Makenna looked very pale and I could tell from her sample her condition was more serious than a stomach ache or a virus."

Makenna was moved the same day to Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville, where she was stabilized for transfer to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock.

"I thought we'd go home and pack but they said 'no, we've called an ambulance to come and get her,'" Monica said. "So, within 12 hours of Makenna being sick, she's being admitted to Children's Hospital in Little Rock. It moved that quickly."

TENSE TIMES IN LITTLE ROCK

Makenna spent 16 days at Arkansas Children's, where doctors treated her for Hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition caused by the abnormal destruction of red blood cells. The damaged red blood cells clog the filtering system in the kidneys, which can lead to life-threatening kidney failure.

The condition most often occurs in children under 5 and adults over 75, not teenagers like Makenna, 15. HUS garnered national attention in 1993 when over 700 people became ill after eating at a string of Jack In The Box restaurants in California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Researchers determined the outbreak was caused from eating contaminated beef patties with certain strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Four children under the age of 10 eventually died from the outbreak.

No one in Makenna's family can pinpoint how she became sick and a group of doctors only knew she was very ill.

"At one point, we had to leave the room while they put a capacitor in her neck to put her to sleep," Monica said. "That was probably my lowest point."

Makenna began to recover after spending five days in the intensive care unit, but not before she had another scare when her blood pressure spiked. Throughout her ordeal, Makenna was supported by family, friends, teammates and even people she didn't know. The Harding Academy girls basketball team from Searcy sent a sweatshirt and a nice letter to Makenna, and Cabot coach Carla Crowder and her husband visited Makenna at the hospital. Coach Johnson put a smile on Makenna's face when he walked into her room with her No. 22 Farmington basketball jersey.

"She smiled when she saw it in my hand," Johnson said. "That was a special moment. We took that jersey down to her and she laid that thing on her bed and spread it out. Even when they were moving her around for dialysis or for procedures, it was right there. She kept it with her the whole time."

Makenna said she is thankful for all the support and the skilled physicians who have given her a chance to play basketball again.

"I'm feeling pretty good, but I'm not 100 percent back yet," said Makenna, who is still on medication for her illness and goes every six weeks for lab work. "I'm sure I'll get there. Going to school and playing basketball is about all I do, so it's pretty important to me. It's really heart-warming for all the people who supported me and helped me."

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Makenna missed a handful of games for Farmington before making her return at Highway 62 rival Prairie Grove. But there was much work to do beforehand and she was brought along slowly by her Farmington coaches.

"We brought her in on her very first day and she practiced 15 minutes, and kind of tested her and made sure all of her tests were baseline," Johnson said. "The second day we doubled it to about 30, and inched it forward. She came in and talked to me, and said, 'Coach, I've lost strength. I obviously want to be in the weight room, but I need to put some other things in.' We put together a weight program along with what we're doing with the team. We lift three times a week, she's lifting five. She purchased some things, like an oxygen mask to expedite the process a little bit, and she would come back and I'd open up the arena for her and she'd shoot for an hour and a half.

"That kid has just worked herself back in. Something else about her, she probably won't say three or four words. She's very quiet, but the words she says pack a punch and her teammates really respect her. She just has this unique level of work ethic, talent, and drive that's pretty special."

CHRISTMAS DAY

Normalcy has returned for Makenna, who scored eight points and made a key steal last week in a 58-51 victory at Bentonville West. She'll be ready to go again when the Lady Cardinals (8-1) return to action Wednesday at a tournament in Mountain Home.

For now, she looks forward to the holidays and the time she'll spend at home with her mother, her father, Ryan, her brother Cameron, 12, and Monica's parents. Christmas morning will include Makenna's favorite breakfast, chocolate gravy and biscuits, then Ryan will grill some steaks later today.

There'll be prayers aplenty and much thanks given in the home for Makenna's recovery from a life-threatening illness.

"This Christmas will be extra special to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who gave us another Christmas with our daughter," Monica said. "It'll be a quiet day, a good day."

Sports on 12/25/2017