EMMETT PHAN WAS A cheeky, rule-following 3-year-old enrolled at St. Norbert Catholic School in Orange. He was quiet but had lots of friends and loved riding tricycles and playing with the older boys.
Every weekend he attended Mass with his family at San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Anaheim Hills. Praying for the sick always topped their list of intentions. Lyan Dao and husband Duy Pham were also blessed with daughter Emma, who is two years behind Emmett.
APRIL 2024 – EMMETT PHAN AT CHOC. PHOTOS COURTESY OF LYAN DAO
Last March Emmett suffered several seizures that landed him in Children’s Hospital of Orange County for two months with a neurological diagnosis but no game plan. It was a rare disease, and doctors had no cure or answers. Emmett had lost his ability to eat, talk, stand or walk. You’d look into his eyes, and no one stared back. The boy who loved to sing and play with his sister and friends was now a shadow of himself.
JULY 2024 – EMMETT PHAN IN PHYSICAL THERAPY
Lyan and Duy work in the medical field, but nothing prepared them for the uncertainty and grief of losing a son who was still alive. Duy went back and forth from CHOC to his job in Los Angeles and was rarely home. It was too painful to see his healthy daughter, he’d tell his wife. Lyan did her best to care for their daughter and be there for Emmett while watching her once laid-back husband fall silent, reluctant to talk about what was going on with their son. Emmett was showing no signs of recovery; Lyan grew angry with God and lost her desire to pray.
IN WALKS HELP
Emmett’s preschool teacher, Maria Phillips, knew CHOC’s fifth floor well. Her granddaughter, also named Emma, was born with a neurological disorder and has spent the last eight years in and out of the hospital. Lyan was keeping in contact with Phillips, who asked to stop by the hospital.
“I wasn’t afraid to visit,” Phillips said.
“I know how horrible and dark those places are. There was a reason why Emmett was in my class.”
EMMETT PHAN TODAY, A HAPPY LITTLE BOY.
Phillips and fellow preschool teacher Veronica Olmos prayed with their class every day. Parents were aware Emmett was sick but didn’t know the specifics. They, too, prayed for his recovery. At a particularly desperate moment before a procedure, Lyan texted Phillips asking for immediate prayers. She, in turn, reached out to St. Norbert principal Joe Ciccoianni, who walked out of a church staff meeting and said a decade of the Rosary with the entire school.
“I tried to pray but it was too hard,” Lyan said.
During that time, Phillips responded, “It’s OK you can’t pray; we’re here to pray for you.”
THE ROAD GETS LONGER
With autoimmune encephalitis, Emmett’s disease, the fatality rate can be as high as 30 percent and permanent complications can affect up to 50 percent of patients. It was a long road that looked bleak for months.
After he returned home, Emmett slept in a hospital bed in the living room. A feeding tube gave him the nutrients to survive. He remained motionless and in a catatonic-like state before showing any signs of recovery. Sister Emma brought him toys and was heartbroken that her brother wouldn’t sit up or play with her.
Classmates made cards, St. Norbert families dropped off gift baskets and notes at their front door and Phillips continued to visit. Another St. Norbert preschool teacher, Nina Lutz, dropped by to work on Emmett’s fine motor skills and read him books. Olmos sent Lyan inspirational memes and messages daily. Emmett went to physical, occupational speech and feeding therapy five days a week. Doctors tried medication after medication. They threw everything at the wall, Lyan said, hoping something would stick. They even tried chemotherapy-type infusions for several months and cleaning his blood cells.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
It had been six months before a glimmer of hope emerged. In September, Emmett was able to sit up by himself and showed interest in his toys. Emmett took his first steps in October. They weren’t straight and he wasn’t running but it was a huge victory. The next month he said his first words and began eating on his own. By December, Emmett’s cognition started to improve. He remembered things like how to pray the Hail Mary and sing his favorite song, Amazing Grace. He even visited his old classroom and got a hug from Santa during the Christmas party.
In January, the feeding tube was removed, and Emmett had significantly improved to the point where he was ready to return to school. Lyan said her son is 90 percent back to his old self and is continuing physical therapy and monthly infusions at CHOC.
HEARTWARMING RETURN
Emmett returned to St. Norbert preschool in February, welcomed by colorful banners and chocolate chip cookies made by an eighth grade student touched by his story. He was happy to see his friends and hug his teachers, who greeted him with tears in their eyes. The principal paid a visit, and everyone prayed for Emmett before snack time, thankful for his first day back.
FAITH RESTORED
Lyan credits an online support group of parents whose children have the same disease for helping her not give up. She feels blessed the neurologist was patient and fought for Emmett. Most importantly, Lyan said, the St. Norbert community saved her.
“The lifeline to St. Norbert School pulled me out of my darkest place when I didn’t want to be here anymore,” Lyan said. “I grew up Catholic and I have never seen this sort of community before. We are just an ordinary family and for Emmett to get so sick and then to have all this love from his school… it touches all of us.”