Woman suddenly fighting for her life after feeling pain on family hiking trip, receiving rare diagnosis

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY/Gray News) - A Wisconsin family says they are working to get their beloved family member home after she suddenly became hospitalized during a family hiking trip in Utah.

Chris Kamke beat breast cancer over the summer and last month left for Utah with her husband, Kendall, and son, Kyle, to visit national parks.

On Sept. 19, the family said they hiked the Narrows in Zion National Park.

However, the next day at Emerald Pools, Kamke said her hips and legs hurt badly. The pain got worse. By the time they drove to Bryce Canyon, she couldn’t sit, stand or lie down.

“So, Kendall and Kyle decided that they should take her in to be seen. So, they drove about 30 minutes to a hospital in Panguitch, Utah,” Tammy Thomas, Kamke’s sister, said.

Doctors first thought it was the heat. When Kamke struggled to breathe, they discovered bacterial pneumonia, according to the family.

Kamke was airlifted to another Utah hospital on Sept. 20, where her condition has since worsened.

“By the time I got there on Friday, she was completely non-responsive, and has been since then. So, since Sept. 25, she has been comatose,” Thomas said.

Kamke has since been diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, a rare autoimmune disease impacting one in 250,000 people.

Loved ones said she is currently paralyzed, in a coma and on a ventilator.

Thomas added that the family could never have seen something like this coming.

“That’s the really strange thing because Chris was extremely active. She walked, they kayaked, they biked, they golfed. I mean, Chris is 65, and she still plays softball with her softball team,” Thomas said.

The family said they want Kamke back to Wisconsin so she can be surrounded by loved ones. But a hospital transport costs $50,000, and insurance won’t cover it.

So, the family is working with the nonprofit Grace on Wings, where crews volunteer and the family pays for jet fuel, estimated at $27,000 to $28,000.

The family has started a GoFundMe to hope to fly her back within the next week, which has helped raise more than $25,000.