PORTALES, N.M. – A Portales mother shares her son’s medical journey, highlighting the challenges of healthcare in rural New Mexico.

In April 2025, April Fleming took her son Owen to Roosevelt General Hospital after he collapsed during a baseball game. Despite a negative test, doctors diagnosed him with strep throat.

“He is bouncing off the walls he’s so hyper, and he’s a sweetheart,” said April Fleming.

When Owen couldn’t turn his head, April questioned the diagnosis and sought a second opinion. Another doctor suggested it might be meningitis.

“In the emergency room, they tell me that they’re going to do a spinal tap on him, which is how they test for meningitis. They ended up not doing that, and they just did another swab test on him,” said April.

Doctors prescribed antibiotics for adenovirus, rhinovirus, and strep. Despite treatment, Owen’s condition worsened, and a lump on his neck grew.

“Fast forward another day. Owen is still getting more sick. Now he can’t walk, he will not eat, he will not drink, and he now has a, the lump is even bigger on his neck,” said April.

April took Owen to the Clovis ER, where her concerns were dismissed again.

“The Clovis doctor told me, ‘I think that you care a lot about your son, but I think that you are a young, paranoid mom who just needs to take a breath,’” said April.

Desperate, April drove Owen to Lubbock, Texas, through a hailstorm as his condition continued to deteriorate.

“He went unconscious. And it’s really hard for me to talk about it, because it was, it was hard to watch his body attack itself and not be able to do anything,” said April.

Six specialists worked to find answers as the abscess on Owen’s neck caused spinal misalignment.

“They were telling me that I should probably start preparing myself, because they didn’t know what was going on and why he kept getting worse,” said April.

Finally, Owen was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.

“He was able to get the IVIG treatment. And then within 45 minutes, his fever broke, and his rash on his body went away, and his eyes cleared up, and he was able to sit up. It was just, it was like a miracle cure,” said April.

Owen is now 4 years old and doing well. April emphasized the need for accountability and resources in New Mexico’s healthcare system to prevent similar situations.