Loyola volleyball player survives rare neurological disorder FIRES

CHCAGO (WLS) -- Doctors call her survival story "one in a million."

Grace Hinchman was your normal, active athlete looking forward to playing volleyball at Loyola University Chicago when she started to get headaches and high fevers. That, eventually led to seizures and a life-or-death situation.

Grace is now doing well and joins ABC7 talk about what she went through, along with one of her doctors, Stephen VanHaerents, an epilepsy specialist at Northwestern Medicine.

Dr. VanHaerents said Grace was diagnosed with FIRES, which is extremely rare. Dr. Van Haerents described the kind of care she needed.

One in a million kids are affected by FIRES, and only 15-20% of FIRES patients return to a normal life. Grace has been medically cleared to return to volleyball practice.