"She Lost 4 Pounds in One Day" — Bella Brave's Mom Says She’s in a Medically Induced Coma
"They’ve told us they don’t know if she’ll survive this," Kyla wrote on Instagram after announcing Bella is in a medical coma.
Jul. 11 2024, Updated 10:08 a.m. ET
You might be used to influencers who either gush about their favorite topics, pick up weird sponsorship deals, or seemingly make tons of money by doing absolutely nothing discernibly labor-intensive. But if you're looking for an internet personality who's inspirational and heart-warming, Bella Brave certainly fits that bill.
Bella Brave (real name: Bella Thomson) is a young girl who lives in Canada with her family and has achieved major popularity on social media as she battles a serious illness.
With her social media platforms being run by her mother Kyla, Bella has amassed massive followings on her platforms. Over 7 million TikTok followers, 338k Instagram followers, and several others on the internet follow Bella's journey as she lives her best life while navigating multiple health issues. While Bella successfully underwent a bowel transplant in 2023, new issues have since arisen, resulting in her being placed in a medically induced coma. What's going on with Bella Brave?
What happened to Bella Brave?
On July 10, 2024, Bella's mom took to Instagram and TikTok to announce that Bella has been placed in a medically induced coma. "Bella is stable and intubated in the ICU," Kyla wrote. "They’ve told us they don’t know if she’ll survive this. I know she will. I know she has an army praying for her," she continued. In a follow-up post, Kyla shared that Bella is experiencing a "fibrosis attack on her lungs."
Kyla explained that prior to her being placed in a medical coma, Bella was taking lung steroids but struggled to "keep her own energy up enough to expand her lungs [and] to breathe was getting harder."
She went on to explain that Bella had lost 4 pounds in just one day as she put "all her energy into breathing." She added, "Her CO2 increased and she started to doze off and have delirium. She was alert enough to tell me I turned into a piece of bread but also knew she was at SickKids hospital in Toronto."
Upon placing her in a medically induced coma, doctors noticed Bella's lungs were not showing signs of infection or damage, but determined "the issue is with her lungs being stiff and difficult to expand," though doctors are still trying to figure out why.
Because of the "rapid fibrosis like deterioration of Bella’s lungs," Kyla says "the one option [doctors] have left to help her lungs work again will be the large dose steroids. We are on day two of those and day three will give us more information on how soon we could see her lung function improve." That update was provided on July 10, 2024.
Naturally, Kyla's posts have received an outpouring of love, support, and prayers from fans all around the world. We are all rooting for Bella's full recovery from her lung condition.
Bella Brave underwent a bowel transplant in August 2023.
In the early morning of Aug. 21, 2023, Bella's official Instagram was updated with some big news, courtesy of Kyla. According to the post, Bella and the family were having "a typical day at home" with plans set for the kids to have a play date with friends. It was then that Kyla "got the call."
That is, she got the call informing her about the sorely-needed transplant for Bella.
"I drop everything and remind Bella that we need to pray," Kyla wrote in her Instagram post. "First for the family of the donor and all that they need through this. Second, Bella's Protection and God's grace through it all. Third, trusting God's will and knowing Jesus is with my brave girl for every step."
She and her family had been waiting for a bowel transplant since 2020, after Bella had already received dozens of surgeries and procedures for her illness.
Despite the long wait, the family felt incredibly blessed to finally receive the call. Soon after getting the news, Bella was able to undergo the bowel transplant.
What disease does Bella Brave have?
Neither Bella nor her mom Kyla has been shy about sharing details about Bella's struggle. According to an exclusive report by People, she was born with several conditions, including severe combined immunodeficiency disease; a rare bowel-destroying illness called Hirschsprung disease; and a form of dwarfism known as cartilage hair hypoplasia. Because of this, she has spent over 1000 days in the hospital and received dozens of surgeries.
As she lives with her illnesses and holds out for treatments, however, she has since become an inspiration to many for them to live life to the fullest and to never lose hope in anything. With the entire internet on her side, Bella Brave has become a true internet icon.