ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County family told Channel 9 they've been left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills after being dropped by their health insurance company.
McKennzie Tucker, 13, went from being an active teenage girl to paralyzed from the chest down because of a rare disease. McKennzie was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, where her antibodies attack her spinal cord, breaking her brain's connection with her lower body and causing paralysis, according to her family.
Despite her condition, McKennzie is optimistic that she will recover.
"I just try to stay positive," she said.
The teenager spent weeks in the hospital and is now bound to a wheelchair.
"There are tough days. There are days she wishes she could walk and those are tough," her father, Brian Tucker, said.
Brian said the timing of his daughter's illness couldn't have been worse. He said there was a mix-up in payment to Humana that led to a review of the family's insurance policy. The Tuckers were then dropped from their coverage, citing an increased insurance risk because of claims and an ongoing medical condition associated with McKennzie's mother. The family said that condition was a previous battle with cancer.
According to Brian, hospital bills for McKennzie's treatment are already at $200,000 and the family is expected to pay out of pocket.
"We're looking at some pretty hefty medical bills that will probably take us a lifetime to pay back," Brian said.
But the Tuckers have already received some help. Thousands of dollars have been donated on a GoFundMe account and neighbors have chipped in as well.
"I really never noticed how nice people were until this happened. So it made me feel really good and really nice on the inside," McKennzie said.
Eyewitness News contacted Humana regarding the Tuckers' case, but the company said it couldn't discuss it because of confidentiality laws.