PEABODY — Ten-year-old Olivia Bormann may be pint-sized, but when it comes to her unfailing spirit, positive outlook and determination to overcome adversity, the little girl is truly a giant.
Bormann has been hospitalized since February 23 when she was diagnosed with a hematoma pressing up against her spine, which needed to be removed through emergency surgery.
She is currently working hard at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston to slowly regain movement. With hospital visits limited to just one parent at a time, Bormann’s friends and family have been unable to see her.
That all changed on Friday night when about a dozen of her friends, decked out in hot pink “Team Olivia” T-shirts, surprised her at Spaulding, carrying posters with messages of hope, support and love. There was even a pink unicorn in the mix, helping Bormann’s friends to spell out “Super Olivia.”
“I felt really happy. It was good to see some of my friends who I have not seen in a really long time,” Olivia said. “I loved watching the pink unicorn run around the parking lot. It made me laugh.”
“It was so nice to see Olivia’s face light up when she saw everyone with the signs,” said her mother, Michele Bormann. “The visit was truly amazing and uplifting.”
By all accounts, Olivia was just a regular kid before her diagnosis, a girl who loved cheerleading and dance, Disney World and summers on the Cape, her little sister, Stella, and her two dogs, Bo and Gus.
The fifth-grader was looking forward to going back to learning fully in-person and seeing all of her friends again at the West School.
But her life was turned upside down in February.
“It started that day when Olivia called me at work and said her back hurt, so I just thought it was probably a sore muscle,” Michele said. “But it just got worse and worse and by night, I could see it in her eyes and realized this was not your average pulled muscle.”
Michele and her husband, Cheyne, raced Olivia to Beverly Hospital, where their daughter’s condition went from bad to worse in a hurry.
“She had lost all feeling in her legs,” said Michele. “The doctors said we needed to get her to Boston Children’s Hospital as they were much better equipped. I think it was about 1:30 in the morning by that time.”
Doctors determined Olivia had a hematoma that was compressing her spine. She was rushed into surgery, where it was removed with doctors declaring the emergency procedure a success. She was transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on March 6, where she has been working hard with therapists to recover. She is making progress every day and is able to feel pain in her legs and hips, which, Michele said, is an indication that Olivia’s nerves are starting to “awaken.”
Somehow in the face of a massive upheaval in their day-to-day lives, Cheyne and Michele found a way to cope and find balance.
“We basically have to alternate time at the hospital with Cheyne taking one night and me the next,” said Michele. “Because of the COVID restrictions, it’s been tough on both sisters not being able to see each other. We did manage to have Olivia come to the lobby and see Stella on her birthday last month, but that’s been it. Stella is still young and is missing her sister and wants to see her.”
The community has stepped up in a big way, helping to arrange for three Peabody billboards to display “Supporting Olivia” messages. Friends created a 50-50 raffle that raised $20,000 in just one day to help the Bormanns modify their home to allow wheelchair access. More than 500 specially-designed “Team Olivia” T-shirts and bracelets have been sold on the “Supporting Olivia” Facebook page.
People from all over the country have reached out to extend their messages of hope for Olivia’s full recovery. Olivia was one of the first Spaulding patients to receive a visit from “Spauldy the Robot,” one of three remotely-controlled robots donated by the Boston Bruins organization to Spaulding and two other Boston hospitals. The robot, decked out in a Bruins jersey, carried a cheerful video message from Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron and two teammates.
Olivia is scheduled to come home on April 21 — just in time to celebrate her 11th birthday on April 24.
“We just cannot wait to have her home,” Michele said. “She is making progress every day, so hopefully, if everything continues to go right, she will be home with us again very, very soon. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful support system. We would not have been able to get through the last month without all of them. We are truly blessed.”