Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
The documentary Take Care of Maya arrived on Netflix last year. It depicted the struggles of the Kowalski family after 10-year-old Maya, who suffered from a rare illness, was admitted to a hospital. Suddenly, she was taken into state custody after the medical team wrongly accused her parents, Jack and Beata Kowalski, of child abuse.
What condition did Maya Kowalski from Take Care of Maya suffer from?
As seen in the Take Care of Maya documentary, Maya Kowalski had advanced complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is a rare neurological condition that causes extreme pain and other symptoms. When Maya was taken to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in 2016, the doctors suspected child abuse.
Per NBC News, the hospital’s medical team suspected that Maya’s mother, Beata, was suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The doctors refused to believe that the then 10-year-old had CRPS. It led to Maya getting separated from her family for months after the hospital’s team wrongly accused her parents of abuse.
The case took a tragic turn when Beata died by suicide in 2017, a week before Maya was released back to her family. NBC News reported that the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital was then hit with a $200 million lawsuit. It claimed that Beata’s untimely death was the result of the medical center’s negligence. The plaintiff’s attorney, Greg Anderson, told jurors that Maya was “told that her mother was crazy.” She was “denied communication with her family.” Anderson also alleged that Maya was “falsely imprisoned and battered.”
The outlet’s report further notes that Anderson said the nurses and social workers were “trying to prove that she did not have CRPS.” They repeatedly touched and hugged Maya despite it causing pain to her. A person suffering from CRPS can experience intense pain on moderate contact.
Per Glamour Magazine, Maya still suffers from CRPS and lives in Venice, Florida, along with her dad, Jack, and brother, Kyle.
Take Care of Maya is available to watch on Netflix.
