213: Deonna’s Story | A Childhood Injury & Stroke + Healing After Sudden Life Changes  episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 12, 2026 · 1H 6M

213: Deonna’s Story | A Childhood Injury & Stroke + Healing After Sudden Life Changes

from The Rare Life · host Madeline Cheney

Many of us start our disability parent journey early in our child’s life, with signs that something is medically awry sometimes as early as birth or in utero. But that’s not the story for Deonna. Instead, a seemingly minor injury for her four year old daughter Allie led to a medical event that changed the course of their lives in an instant.In this episode, Deonna shares what happened after her daughter suffered a stroke, from the months in the hospital, the acclimation to life at home with a medically complex child and in-home nursing, and the long road to reclaim her mental and emotional health in the aftermath.From all the ways her community changed to the impact on siblings of disabled children, Deonna covers so much ground in this episode. If you’ve ever felt like your life has been turned upside down and you’re worried that you’ll never feel grounded again, this episode will offer you a warm embrace and so much hope.And our FUEL The Rare Life fundraiser is live! Help us fund the podcast for another year by sharing our fundraiser with your loved ones and community so we can keep supporting you! Learn more here.Links:Share our FUEL The Rare Life fundraiser!Listen to Ep 211: Trachs & Vents.Listen to the Raising Disabled podcast.Follow Deonna on Instagram @deonnawadeart!Follow Raising Disabled on Instagram @raisingdisabledpodcast!Follow us on Instagram @the_rare_life!Join The Rare Life newsletter and never miss an update!Fill out our contact form to join upcoming discussion groups!Donate to the podcast or Contact me about sponsoring an episode.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 12, 2026

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