MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries - Ep. 90 | Walk Like the Birds

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

One day at the park, a mother notices her young son is walking strangely – almost like Frankenstein. At first, she writes it off as an oddity. But soon, her son’s legs stop working altogether… and the rest of his body starts shutting down with them.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music, the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Or, you can listen episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Start your free trial in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or by visiting https://wondery.com/links/mrballens-medical-mysteries/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to new episodes of Mr. Bolland's Medical Mysteries early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. In 2015, a young mother sat in a hospital exam room, clutching her hands nervously in her lap. She took deep calming breaths, but it was barely working. On the other side of the room, a social worker from Child Protective Services was barraging her with questions. Fifteen minutes earlier, this mother had watched as her two-and-a-half-year-old son was wheeled out of the room, screaming and crying.

The doctor had told her they were going to see if his leg was broken and that she, the mom, could not come with them. And now, this social worker wanted to know, had the mother hurt her child? The mother didn't know what to do, because she knew she hadn't hurt her son, but she had no idea how she was going to convince anyone. From Ballen Studios and Wondry, I'm Mr. Ballen and this is Mr. Ballen's Medical Mysteries, where every week we will explore a new baffling mystery originating from the one place we all can't escape, our own bodies. So if you liked today's story, please check out library books under the follow button's name and then never return them.

Keep people and pets safer. Always keep your dog on a leash in public. Learn more at toronto.ca slash leash your dog. A message from the city of Toronto. Hi, I'm Misha Brown and I'm the host of Wondery's podcast, The Big Flop. Each episode, comedians join me to chronicle one of the biggest pop culture fails of all time

and try to answer the age-old question, who thought this was a good idea? Follow The Big Flop wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is called Walk Like the Birds. On a rainy spring day in Michigan in 2015, Kristen Rawlings served lunch to her two and a half year old son Bobby. She set a colorful plate full of healthy foods from carrots to blueberries on the table right in front of him. But Bobby was not remotely interested in any of it. He just pushed the whole plate to the side, which didn't surprise Kristin because she knew what he really wanted. Graham crackers and chocolate milk.

Kristin knew her son was a picky eater. She did her best to make sure he ate healthy, but at the same time she just didn't have the energy to make every meal a battle. So on this day she added a few of his favorite crackers to the plate and offered a small cup of chocolate milk, both of which he consumed immediately. Kristen felt guilty that her boy ate so many sweets, but she figured Bobby should at least have something in his stomach. Once Bobby was done eating, Kristen unsnapped the safety belt on his booster seat and he climbed down from the chair. Soon he was playing happily with his toys on a nearby rug. As Kristen cleared away the lunch dishes, she watched her son stand up and walk over

to his craft table. She noticed that Bobby was having trouble putting weight on his right leg, but he didn't act like he was in any pain. Kristen figured that his foot must have fallen asleep while he was sitting crisscross on the rug. So she left him alone while she finished cleaning up. A few weeks later, on a warm sunny afternoon, Kristen gave Bobby one last big push in his favorite swing at the park. She smiled as he climbed down from the swing and ran towards the sandbox on the other side of the playground.

Then, Kristen froze. She noticed something odd about the way Bobby was moving. He was barely letting his right foot touch the ground. It was like the second it made impact, he would quickly tuck it back up again, like he was protecting his right foot. Kristen ran to her son, concerned that he might have cut his foot on a rock or maybe a piece of glass hidden inside the sand. But when she reached him, Bobby wasn't crying, so she calmly asked him why he was walking like that. Bobby told her he was just trying to walk like the birds in the park. Kristen was a bit relieved that her son could just have been playing a game. But a few minutes later she watched her son follow a group of kids towards the slide. She could see that

his bird walk had stopped, but now he was doing something else. He was walking very stiff-legged, kind of like Frankenstein. Something definitely seemed wrong with Bobby, but Kristen told herself not to panic. If Bobby wasn't in pain, then she didn't want to waste time and money with an unnecessary doctor's appointment. However, she did decide she would keep a closer eye on Bobby in case his gait did not go back to normal. Bobby's condition did not improve, and early one morning the following week, Kristen woke up to the sound of him crying and coughing on the baby monitor.

She hurried down the hall to his room and she sat with him on his small bed. She saw that he was clutching his right foot, so she took it in her hand and tried to massage it, but he immediately pulled it away from her grasp. For the first time, it seemed like her son was in pain. As Kristen rocked Bobby slowly back and forth trying to calm him down, she noticed his back felt warm under his pajamas, almost like he had a fever. Once he stopped crying, she helped him slide off the bed and stand up. Then Bobby walked over to his toy box with that same Frankenstein lurch Kristen had noticed

in the park the week before. Kristen knew she couldn't put this off any longer. Something was wrong. It was time for a visit to the doctor. Later that day, Kristin held Bobby in her lap as she described Bobby's symptoms to the pediatrician. He told her that cold season typically lasted until early spring. He suspected that that was what Bobby was dealing with.

The problem with his leg was concerning, and so the doctor asked her to lift Bobby onto the exam table. However, as soon as the doctor began to gently manipulate the boy's legs, Bobby began to cry. The doctor shook his head. The doctor told Kristen that based on this, he was going to order x-rays of Bobby's legs. Once the x-rays were complete, the doctor pulled up the results on a computer and showed the images to Kristen. He pointed to an area on the long, thin bone on the outside of Bobby's lower leg called the fibula. The doctor said the x-ray was

not conclusive, but it did show that Bobby could have a minor fracture there. Kristen had no idea how Bobby could have hurt his leg this badly. He was rarely out of her sight. The doctor reassured her that children's bones usually heal quickly, and the injury did not require a cast. He suggested that Kristin watch Bobby closely and keep him from walking too much for several weeks. After that, they would retake the x-rays and see if Bobby's leg had improved. Almost a month later, Kristin used the shower head to rinse bubbles off her son as he sat in the empty tub following his bath.

After he was rinsed off, Kristen wrapped him in a towel, lifted him out of the tub, and gently stood him on the bathroom rug. Immediately, Bobby cried out in pain and sank to the floor. This had happened several times since that visit to the pediatrician. Kristen had done her best to follow the doctor's suggestion to limit Bobby's activity over the last few weeks, hoping the pain in his right leg would go away. But instead, things seemed to have only gotten worse. Now, Bobby flinched and cried whenever she touched either of his legs, left or right. Kristen picked her crying son up and took him to his room. There, they sat on his bed together as she rocked him and wiped away his tears.

Once Bobby stopped crying, he sniffled a bit and then smiled up at his mom. Kristen smiled back but then it turned into a frown. She could see something strange inside of Bobby's mouth. Kristen gently pushed his lip up for a better look and she saw there was a dark spot on the gums between his two front teeth. Kristin very softly wiped that spot with a towel until the black spot disappeared, but then his gums began to bleed. Kristin realized that the gum line in her son's entire mouth was very red and swollen.

Whatever was wrong with Bobby, it seemed to be more than just his legs, and it appeared to be getting very serious very fast. So she got Bobby dressed, bundled him up, and headed to the nearest emergency room. About an hour later, at the ER of her local hospital, Kristen stood alongside the doctor as he examined her son. She was doing her best to keep Bobby still and quiet on his hospital bed so she could answer the doctor's questions. But Bobby cried out in pain every time the doctor gave either of his legs even the slightest touch. After a few minutes of this, Kristen noticed a very strange, unfriendly look come over the doctor's face. He called a nurse into the room and then

abruptly pointed to a nearby chair and asked Kristen to take a seat. Kristen immediately sat down, like she'd been given a direct order, and now all she could do was watch as her son cried out for his mother from the exam table. And also, from this angle, she could see something alarming. Although Bobby was flailing his arms as he desperately reached for her, his legs were completely motionless. She realized that his legs only moved when the doctor manipulated them. The rest of the time, they lay flat and still on the table.

Kristen felt a knot growing in her stomach. Then the doctor whispered something in the nurse's ear. Then the doctor asked the nurse to take Bobby for a CT scan right away to get a closer look at his leg bones. Kristen assumed she would stay with Bobby to comfort him during the procedure, so she grabbed her bag and stood as the nurse began to wheel Bobby out of the room, but the doctor stopped her and told her to stay and give him more detail on Bobby's medical history. Kristin could hear Bobby wailing as he disappeared down the hall.

She knew it was important for the doctor to know as much as he could about this situation. So she did as she was told and sat back down and went through Bobby's entire medical history. She told the doctor that Bobby had developed normally as a baby, but she did note that he didn't begin talking as early as other kids his age. Her pediatrician had called it a slight speech delay, but believed he would catch up. Other than that, and the fact that he was a very picky eater like most kids his age, Kristen said Bobby was a healthy, happy kid, and he had been totally fine until six weeks ago when she had first noticed his leg pain.

A moment later, the door to the exam room opened and a woman stepped inside. Kristen thought this might be a specialist the doctor had called in to discuss Bobby's case, but then the doctor excused himself, saying he would check on Bobby and return shortly. That's when Kristen noticed this woman was dressed in a formal blouse and slacks, not in scrubs like most doctors. She introduced herself to Kristen

as a case manager for Child Protective Services, and then she sat down in the chair the doctor had just left. She told Kristen that according to state law, doctors were required to report any suspicions of child abuse, and it was her job to make sure Kristen was not hurting Bobby. Kristen tried not to show just how shocked she felt when she realized this woman thought she was hurting her own son, but at the same time she knew she had to stay calm and not seem angry. So, Kristin clenched her hands in her lap and began to answer the case manager's questions. Every big moment starts with a big dream.

But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and Atwill Media, I'm Misha Brown and this is The Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time like Quibi. It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to like get other people to do it. And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats. Like if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie.

Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Get started with your free trial at Wondery.com slash plus. In the early 20th century, a seemingly ordinary cook in New York City became the center of a medical mystery and a public health crisis. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondry's podcast American History Tellers. We take you to the events, times, and people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. In our latest series, we follow the trail of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant and cook to wealthy

New York families who was unwittingly spreading typhoid fever throughout the city. Public health officials identify her as a healthy carrier of the disease, meaning that despite showing no symptoms herself, she's been infecting others for years. But when they try to persuade her to submit to testing in isolation, Typhoid Mary will fight back with a vengeance. Follow American history tellers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today. About a half hour later, Kristen let out a deep breath as the Child Protective Services

manager finally left the room. Kristen was relieved that the woman seemed satisfied with her answers. Now she was just anxious to get back to Bobby and make sure he was okay. Just then, Kristen heard the nurse talking to Bobby as she wheeled him down the hall back to their small hospital room. The doctor followed right behind them and as he came in, he gave Kristen a small smile. She could tell it was his way of showing her that he knew she had not hurt Bobby after all. And the instant her boy came through the door, Kristin was by his side.

Realizing immediately how scared she had been, they were going to take Bobby away from her. She squeezed her son's hand as the doctor called up the CT scan results on the computer. The doctor said the scan didn't show any broken bones. Whatever the previous doctor had seen on Bobby's x-rays, it most likely was not a fracture. Kristin sighed with relief. Then, the doctor said Bobby's lab results showed his red blood cells were low, and that he had severe anemia. Upon hearing this, Kristin actually felt sort of hopeful. Maybe Bobby's problems could be solved easily by treating the anemia with some iron pills. Maybe the worst of this thing was over.

However, the doctor said that anemia would not explain Bobby's leg pain. He said that he wanted to rule out a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome that can cause numbness or even paralysis in the legs. This disorder occurs when the immune system that usually protects us from disease mistakenly attacks the body's own nerves. In Bobby's case, his immune system's attacks could be interfering with his muscle movement and possibly causing his weakness and pain. The doctor asked Kristen for permission to do a spinal tap because that was the only

way to test for this condition, and a spinal tap would require him to use a needle and syringe to remove fluid from Bobby's spine. Kristen's heart began to beat faster at the thought of a needle in her child's spine, but she ultimately gave the doctor permission. She hoped that this latest test would finally tell them what was happening to her son. A few hours later, Kristen held a very relaxed Bobby in her arms as the doctor rubbed a numbing anesthetic cream onto his back. Bobby had been given a mild sedative to relax him for the procedure. After the cream was applied, the doctor shot even more numbing medicine into the area around

his spinal column. He promised Kristen that her son would not feel a thing. Kristen held Bobby as the doctor felt for a space between two of his vertebrae. Then Kristen took a deep breath as the doctor sunk a long needle into Bobby's lower spine. Once the needle was in place, the doctor pulled back the plunger on the syringe, and within seconds Kristen saw clear fluid flowing slowly through the tube connected to a vial. Once the vial was full of Bobby's spinal fluid, the doctor removed the needle from his back. Then he put a bandaid over the puncture wound and handed the vial to a nurse. The spinal tap was now over.

After that, Bobby was wheeled down the hallway and settled back into his room in the ER to wait for the results of the tests on his spinal fluid. Kristen was so exhausted that she just climbed into the bed beside Bobby. A nurse brought them a blanket and then dimmed the lights. Soon, the mother and son were fast asleep. A little while later, Kristen woke up when she heard the doctor give a quiet knock on their door. It was the middle of the night, but Kristen suddenly felt wide awake. She quietly climbed out of the bed so Bobby didn't wake up. She was happy he was finally sleeping calmly. Kristen met the doctor out in the bright hallway.

The doctor told her that he had good news. The spinal tap had not shown any signs of an immune system attack, which meant, for now, they did not need to worry about paralysis. Kristen nodded, not really sure how to feel. She was definitely very happy that Bobby had dodged a very scary sounding diagnosis, but at the same time, she was frustrated by the multiple rounds of testing that as of yet, still had not found any concrete answers. Kristen headed back inside the room and she heard Bobby stirring in his bed, so reflexively she walked over and reached out to adjust Bobby's blanket so it covered him more.

But as she did, she saw something that made her gasp and yell out for the doctor back in the hallway. The doctor immediately came in, snapped on the bright lights, and Kristen pointed to tiny red spots which had suddenly developed all over Bobby's face and neck, almost like Bobby had the measles. And one look at the doctor's startled face told Kristen that something was very wrong with her baby. As the sun began to rise a few hours later,

Kristen climbed into an ambulance right beside the gurney that carried her son. They were headed to a pediatric hospital where specialists would soon review Bobby's case. She prayed that somebody there would soon review Bobby's case. She prayed that somebody there would be able to help him. Later that morning, Dr. Hall Johnson wore a fuzzy sheep puppet on his right hand as he examined his latest patient, Bobby. Dr. Johnson had long ago learned the value of

distraction to treat the sick children he saw every day. But even his funniest sheep voice for his sheep puppet was not calming this little boy down at all. Bobby was thrashing and crying in his bed. Dr. Johnson had reviewed Bobby's records and saw that his red blood cell count was dangerously low and so it made sense the boy was so pale. He was severely anemic. But one thing didn't make sense to the doctor.

Children with severe anemia were usually too weak to throw a fit like this one, and even stranger, Bobby was only throwing a tantrum with his upper body. The doctor noticed that Bobby's legs weren't moving at all. They just laid there flat on the table in a wide open position like a frog's legs. But to Dr. Johnson's surprise, when he tapped under Bobby's knees with a small hammer, Bobby's legs kicked out in an exaggerated response. Bobby's legs clearly were not paralyzed, it was just that Bobby couldn't or wouldn't make the move. Bobby's gums were still swollen and red, too. As for the strange rash that had bloomed so suddenly at the emergency room, Dr. Johnson

could see that it was actually tiny pinholes of blood coming to the surface of the skin, known as petechia. These little spots can be caused by lots of disorders, from bacterial infections to blood disorders. Dr. Johnson asked a nurse to tend to the unhappy child while he led Kristen to the nearby nurse's station. He could see she was as frazzled and exhausted as Bobby, so he tried to be gentle. He told her that after all the testing Bobby had been through, he still had no clear diagnosis here. The boy clearly had a multitude of worrisome symptoms, but so far, Dr. Johnson had not hit on one condition that could kind of explain them all. Dr. Johnson asked Kristen to prepare for her son to be admitted because even more testing was ahead.

My name is Madison McGee. From LA Times Studios comes its latest series, LA Crimes. From deep dives into the Menendez brothers to conversations about why Bravo TV seems to be a hotbed of white collar criminals, we'll cover it all. We'll speak with LA Times reporters and others in the true crime industry to put a lens not just on these cases, but on our own culture's fascination with them and what that says about us. Tune in every Wednesday wherever you stream your podcast.

We acting bad, bad, bad, bad. We. It's not hurt nobody. For decades he was untouchable. But now it's all coming undone Sean combs the mogul as we know it is over he will never be that person again even if he's found not guilty of these charges. I'm Jesse Weber host of law and crimes, the rise and fall of did the federal trial a front row seat to the biggest trial in entertainment history, sex trafficking racketeering

prostitution allegations by federal prosecutors that span decades and witnesses were finally speaking out. The spotlight is harsher the stakes are higher and for did he there may be no second chances. You can listen to the rise and fall of did he the federal trial exclusively with one degree plus join one degree plus in the one degree app Spotify or Apple podcast right now. Several blood tests later doctor Johnson sat at his computer re-examining Bobby's x-rays.

Dr. Johnson had run blood tests for an array of conditions, including lead poisoning and inflammation in Bobby's muscles or bones. But everything came back negative, and Dr. Johnson just felt stumped. So Dr. Johnson began reviewing Bobby's case from the beginning, including taking another good look at the x-rays that had made Bobby's original doctor think he could have a broken fibula. As Dr. Johnson clicked through the x-rays on his screen, he noticed something strange. Some parts of the bones in Bobby's legs were darker than others. These dark lines, known as lucent bands, were a sign that Bobby's bones were developing unevenly, leaving some sections thinner and weaker and other sections thicker and stronger.

This odd pattern on the x-ray pointed Dr. Johnson in a particular direction, but to confirm it, that would require more tests, so he sent in the orders for them immediately. Then came the hard part. As the doctor pushed back from his desk and stepped into the hallway, he went over in his mind how he would break it to Kristen that her son needed a procedure that was likely to make her quite anxious. He knew Bobby had already had a spinal tap, a procedure that put a needle in his spine. Now Dr. Johnson needed to perform a bone marrow biopsy.

This meant he would have to sink an even bigger needle into Bobby's leg, push through to the core of the bone, and then draw out a piece of spongy marrow cells. Dr. Johnson would only ever order this test if he suspected something terrible, and unfortunately, he did. Lucent bands were a sign of leukemia, which meant Dr. Johnson was testing for cancer in the boy's blood and bone marrow. Later that day, Dr. Johnson waited anxiously in his office for the results of Bobby's bone

marrow biopsy, and as soon as they hit his inbox and he read them, he was very relieved, and he picked up his phone and notified Kristen that the results had found no evidence of leukemia. Dr. Johnson could hear the relief in Kristen's voice, but he reminded himself that his work was not yet finished. Now that he had ruled out leukemia, he had to turn his attention to another area of suspicion that he had. This time, he needed to look at Bobby's leg bones as closely as possible.

To do this, he ordered one more test, an MRI of Bobby's legs. He promised Kristen this was a painless procedure. A few hours later, the MRI results flashed across Dr. Johnson's computer screen, giving him a high-resolution cross-section view of Bobby's leg bones. And finally, he found exactly what he was looking for. The reason for the pain and weakness in Bobby's legs was very clear to see. The outer layer in both of Bobby's thigh bones had thickened and was pulling away from the rest of the bone. Dr. Johnson knew this was a sign of a debilitating condition that used to be common in the 18th

century but was now incredibly rare in kids in the U.S. It was so rare, most doctors had never even seen a single case of it. Dr. Johnson went back to Kristen to obtain additional information, this time specifically about Bobby's picky diet, and what Kristen told him allowed him to finally diagnose Bobby's condition. Dr. Johnson's hunch was correct. Bobby had scurvy. Scurvy is a disease that was first seen in the 15th century when

European sailors began to take long voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, going months or even years without a proper diet. The illness began with the same symptoms Bobby presented – painful joints and bleeding gums, and then as the disease progressed, their teeth would get loose, they'd bleed from the mouth and nose, and their legs and ankles would swell. Finally, internal bleeding or infection would lead to a very painful death. On any given transatlantic ocean voyage at the time, at least half the sailors would die of scurvy. But in 1753, it was discovered that citrus fruits could prevent and cure scurvy, and

so sea captains began bringing crates of oranges and limes on every long voyage. That's actually how British sailors got the nickname, Limies. Scurvy is rarely seen today, but it does still exist. It's mostly found among older people or people with mental disorders who can't eat a varied healthy diet. When Dr. Johnson asked Kristen about Bobby's diet, she revealed that on an average day, Bobby drank about a quart of chocolate milk and ate 2-4 graham crackers, and that was

basically it. They were not just his favorite foods, they were practically all he ever ate. He did not eat meat, he didn't eat vegetables, and most importantly, he did not eat fruit. As a result, his diet lacked the one element crucial to life that humans cannot make or store. It must come through our daily diet. Bobby needed vitamin C. As soon as Dr. Johnson made his diagnosis, he started Bobby on doses of vitamin C. And

just like the sailors of old, his symptoms began to reverse within a week. His gums stopped bleeding, and he started to use his legs again as the pain and swelling subsided. And finally, after four months, Bobby was back to normal. Now that you've finished this episode, I know you will love what Luke Lamanna is doing over at Redacted Declassified Mysteries. Go ahead and start with the episode titled, The Secret of Churchill's Anthrax Island. It's a chilling tale of biological weapons and government secrets that's perfect for medical mystery fans just like you.

From Ballen Studios and Wondry, this is Mr. Ballen's Medical Mysteries, hosted by me, Mr. Ballen. A quick note about our stories. They're all inspired by true events, but we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved, and some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes. And a reminder, the content in this episode is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This episode was written by Allison Taylor.

Our editor is Heather Dundas. Sound design is by Andre Pleus. Our senior managing producer is Callum Plews. And our coordinating producer is Sarah Mathis. Our senior producer is Alex Benedon. Our associate producers and researchers are Sarah Vytak and Tasia Palacanda. Fact checking was done by Sheila Patterson. For Ballin Studios, our Head of Production is Zach Levitt. Script Editing by Scott Allen

and Evan Allen. Our Coordinating Producer is Samantha Collins. Production Support by Avery Siegel. Executive Producers are myself, Mr. Ballin, and Nick Witters. For Wondry, our Head of Sound is Marcelino Villapondo. Senior producers are Laura Donna Palavota and Dave Schilling. Senior managing producer is Ryan Lor, and our executive producers are Aaron O'Flaherty and Marshall Louie. For Wondry. ["Wonder"]

The ocean is vast, beautiful, and lawless. I'm Ian Urbina back with an all new season of The Outlaw Ocean. The stories we bring you this season are literally life or death. We look into the shocking prevalence of forced labor, mind-boggling overfishing, migrants hunted and captured. The Outlaw Ocean takes you where others won't. Available on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.