![Connor Hall was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease at 18 months old. He is now a healthy 8-year-old. (Photo courtesy of the Hall family)](https://www.heart.org/-/media/Images/News/SFTH/0620SFTHKonnerHall_SC.jpg?sc_lang=en)
Even as a toddler, Connor Hall displayed a talent for reaching developmental milestones early.
He started walking at 9 months old and was potty trained by 14 months.
He was also prone to ear infections, so when the 18-month-old woke up one morning with a slight fever, his parents, Stephanie and Justin Hall of Cottonwood, Alabama, assumed it was just an ear infection.
By that evening, Connor’s temperature had reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit, high enough that his parents took him to the emergency room, where doctors said he was just dehydrated and sent his parents home with instructions to give him more fluids.
A few days later, Connor woke up in the middle of the night crying, his fever over 104 degrees. His parents rushed him to another nearby emergency room, hoping for a new diagnosis. The doctor there gave the same diagnosis: Connor was simply dehydrated and needed to drink more fluids.
Stephanie and Justin were sure there was something more to it. After all, Connor’s lips were swollen as if someone had punched him, his tongue was covered in bumps, and his whole body was covered in a rash. If anyone touched him, he would burst into tears.
The next morning, Stephanie and Justin took Connor to the pediatrician, who quickly told them: “He has Kawasaki disease.”
Kawasaki disease is a disease of small and medium-sized blood vessels in the body, including the arteries of the heart. It begins suddenly and causes high fever and inflammation of the blood vessels. The exact cause of the disease is unknown. It tends to affect the coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart muscle. It usually occurs in children under the age of 5 and is more common in boys than girls.
If not diagnosed within the first 5-7 days after symptoms appear, it can become life-threatening.
Connor was diagnosed on the fifth day.
![Connor Hall with his mother, Stephanie, in the hospital. (Photo courtesy of the Hall family)](https://www.heart.org/-/media/Images/News/SFTH/0620SFTHKonnerHall_hospital.jpg?sc_lang=en)
Over the next seven days, Connor received antibody infusions, the standard treatment for Kawasaki disease. He was allowed to go home once his fever had subsided within 24 hours. His parents were told to bring him home if his fever returned within 24 hours.
A few hours later, Connor developed a fever of 102 degrees, so they went back to the hospital, got another IV, and after 24 hours the fever had subsided, he was sent home with the same instructions.
Connor never had to go back.
For the next six months, he took one aspirin a day to control fevers and prevent blood clots.
Connor, now eight years old, will likely remain a carrier of the disease, which is often treatable with early diagnosis and is not contagious, and the chances of further complications decrease significantly as he gets older.
Today, Connor is a happy, healthy little boy full of energy.
Connor loves baseball, coloring, all things wrestling, watching WWE, and rolling around with his dad. He’s still ahead of his age. Recently, a teacher called Stephanie and asked if she could try out Connor for the gifted and talented program at her school.
![Connor Hall is still going strong for his age and loves to play baseball. (Photo courtesy of the Hall family)](https://www.heart.org/-/media/Images/News/SFTH/0620SFTHKonnerHall_baseball.jpg?sc_lang=en)
“At 18 months old, suffering a 104 degree fever for days on end could have caused brain damage for Connor, but that didn’t happen,” Stephanie said.
Or, as Connor himself says, “Kawasaki disease hasn’t made me weaker, it’s made me stronger.”
“Stories From the Heart” chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.