ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Children’s Hospital is producing a docu-film on Laila Anderson.
It’ll feature Anderson and the St. Louis Blues. As Laila herself says in the film’s trailer, which debuts on NBC Sports Oct. 2 during the Blues home opener, “There’s the story people think they know about me. Then there’s the real story.”
Anderson has not only been an inspiration to the Blues, but to people all over the world.
The docu-film will look into what happened after the Stanley Cup victory and where Anderson and her beloved Blues are now, according to a press release.
In September 2018, doctors at Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital found an answer to the mystery illness affecting Laila - HLH (hemophagocytic lymphohistiosis), a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disease in which the immune cells grow out of control and attack the body, causing organ damage.
In Anderson’s case, the immune system was attacking her brain. HLH can be difficult to diagnose because it often looks like other conditions. Laila is just one of 15 children in the world who have had a solely neurologic manifestation of the disease, which made it even more challenging to pinpoint a diagnosis.
In May 2019, Anderson rang the bell at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. As the Blues were chasing the Stanley Cup, Heather Anderson (Laila’s mom) received special permission from Laila’s doctor to go to a playoff game with certain precautions. It would be Laila’s first excursion since her BMT and one of the first time she was introduced to the country – who fell in love with her determination and passion for the Blues.
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