Kylie's Kids: Teen Battles Rare Immune System Disease

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Have you ever woken up in the morning and your feet are little tingly?

Well, that's exactly what happened to this week's Kylies Kid, Jackie. Only for Jackie, that numb and tingly feeling didn't go away.

But even after losing feeling in her legs, Jackie's attitude is one of the best you'll ever meet.

Jackie was just a few weeks away from freshman year at the University of North Dakota when she woke up to an unfamiliar feeling.

"Monday morning I woke up and I had pins and needles in my feet," Jackie said. "I thought I had just slept funny on it. By night it was up to my knees. Then I woke up on Tuesday and I couldn't feel anything from my bellybutton down."

Turns out Jackie had Guillian Barre, a condition where the immune system attacks the nerves.

"It's a little bit freaky but I'm getting better at walking without feeling," Jackie said.

It's a big change of pace for this high school athlete, who went from dancing at her senior prom a few months ago to learning to move all over again.

"This morning we danced through the hallway a little bit," she said. "One of the nurses played music and I was trying to get my feet to work and it was funny to dance along with the music."

As Jackie heads to North Dakota for her first year of college, she may have an extra edge on her classmates.

"It's funny, I want to be an occupational therapist so I've met a lot of neat occupational therapists here," she said. "I've been like, 'Is this job shadowing? Does this count? Can I write this down in my little paper?'"

Jackie said she is slowly getting feeling back and it's now a little above her knees. She was able to start her freshman year at UND.

She said she's having so much fun and can't wait to fully recover and play intramural volleyball.