How singing is helping this 6-year-old girl with rare condition work toward recovery

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (InvestigateTV) - A 6-year-old Illinois girl with a rare neurological condition that left her paralyzed is making progress at a Louisville rehabilitation center, where a team of therapists has turned music into a motivational tool.

Rhea Chancellor was 3 years old when she became paralyzed from the neck down after going down for a nap, according to her mother, Wanda Chancellor.

Rhea has Acute Flaccid Myelitis, or AFM, a rare neurological condition that primarily affects children and causes sudden muscle weakness and paralysis.

Wanda said she began searching for every available option to give her daughter the best chance at recovery.

She brought Rhea from Illinois to Louisville’s Frazier Rehab to take part in a University of Louisville study at the Kosair for Kids Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery.

“I started looking for anything and everything I could to get her to the best chance of recovery,” Wanda said.

Music as medicine

What Wanda did not expect was how the therapy team would approach keeping Rhea engaged. The therapists began singing Rhea’s favorite song “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan during sessions.

“She’s definitely fun to be around, but you definitely have to match her energy,” said Molly Brooks, research manager with UofL Kosair for Kids Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery said.

Brooks said the music serves a purpose beyond entertainment.

“Her music is obviously inspiring. It elicits this joy out of this child and this entire team,” Brooks said. “All the different songs we are singing, different games we are playing - we really have intent behind it: how will this help progress her recovery.”

Brooks also noted the approach is not something learned in a classroom. “You don’t get this training in school,” she said.

Progress and milestones

Rhea said she enjoys her time at the center. “I walked and I played,” she said. “It feels good.”

Wanda said she has seen measurable changes in her daughter. “Before, she would buckle her knees, and now she’s slowly not buckling her knees,” she said.

One moment stood out above the rest. “She hasn’t been able to move her thumb for three years, and yesterday she gave me a thumbs up,” Wanda said.

Wanda has documented Rhea’s therapy journey on TikTok. Videos from the center have received more than 3 million views.

“They put on a performance every day,” Wanda said.

Wanda said she remains focused on what comes next. “I’m hoping one day she’s walking, whether it’s with a device or not. I know if I continue this therapy she has a chance of recovery, and my girl will walk again,” she said.

Wanda and Rhea have returned to Illinois. They hope to come back to Louisville to continue recovery.