Credit Henry A. Barrios / The Bakersfield Californian
Jillian Lugo fixes her daughter, Jayden's, hair for a picture. The 10-year-old girl has spent most of her life with valley fever and the complications it has caused. She contracted the fungal disease that spread to her brain w
Credit Henry A. Barrios / The Bakersfield Californian
Jayden Lugo, 10, stands next to her mom, Jillian, at their family home in Wasco. When Jayden was 2-months-old she contracted valley fever. It was several months before the disease was diagnosed and by then, it had spread to he
Credit Henry A. Barrios / The Bakersfield Californian
Ten-year-old Jayden Lugo was 2-months-old when she contracted valley fever. By the time the disease was diagnosed several months later, it had spread to her brain, according to her mom, causing complications she still suffers from today. She uses a walker
Jayden Lugo has had 56 surgeries in her short life.
The 10-year-old from Wasco in California’s Central Valley has brain damage, uses a walker to get around, undergoes therapy once a week and takes three pills every night before she goes to bed.
