After a Tick Bite, a Fitness Influencer Experienced Symptoms Often Ignored – Now She’s Partially Paralyzed
Maria Palen: From Fitness to Fight — A Rare Illness Changed Everything. Maria Palen, a fitness influencer and chemical engineer, lived a life centered around health and wellness. But in early 2024, her body began showing unusual signs — fatigue, small aches, and unexplained weight loss. She assumed it was stress or overtraining, but her condition quickly worsened.
After months of tests, doctors diagnosed her with babesiosis, a rare tick-borne illness that attacks red blood cells and weakens the immune system. The infection was aggressive. By March, Maria was bedridden. By October, she was paralyzed from the waist down due to transverse myelitis — spinal cord inflammation triggered by the illness.
Though a 15-day antibiotic course cleared the infection, the damage had already…
