Illinois Teen's Family 'Broken' After His Death From Rare Disease

MOLINE, IL — The family of a Moline teen is mourning after he died Tuesday, just over one week after a rare disease began taking over his body. Christopher Bunch, 14, passed away days after he was diagnosed with ADEM (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis), which started as a headache on Aug. 6, Elijah Bunch, Christopher's dad, said in a Facebook post.

According to the post, the teen went to football practice that Monday afternoon despite his headache, but ended up having to sit out for the rest of practice after Christopher told his coach his head hurt. The pain continued and he started vomiting on Tuesday, then slept for more than 24 hours into Wednesday night.

Christopher's dad wrote that he and the teen's mom took him to the ER, where after some tests, they were sent to Iowa City Children's Hospital for other tests.

That's where Christopher was diagnosed with ADEM, an autoimmune disease that quickly attacks the spinal cord and brain, which paralyzed the teen on the left side of his body, his dad said, adding Christopher also had a seizure.

"I am just so broken now," dad Elijah Mendoza wrote on his Facebook page.

A Facebook fundraiser page has been created to help the family with medical bills and other expenses. Nearly $16,500 of a $20,000 goal has been raised.

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