Local teen’s COVID diagnosis changed everything. Now her family hopes for answers from NIH.

SUGAR CITY — Life completely changed for a local family and their teenage daughter after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Randy and Holly Batton, of Sugar City, have five kids. Their second oldest child, June, is 15 years old and a freshman at Sugar-Salem High School. Randy said June was popular amongst her friends, a top student and someone who loved running. But during Christmas break 2023, June caught COVID and nothing has been the same since.

Randy said when his daughter was fighting COVID, it was severe and landed her in and out of the emergency room at least five times. She eventually recovered but during 2024 — June was an eighth-grader at the time — more health complications arose.

“She would start staring off and she would get lost in the hallways (at school). The bell would ring and she would be spaced out, not knowing where she was going,” Randy explained.

She started having intense hallucinations and ended up at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where multiple tests were done, including a 24-hour EEG. An EEG is a test that measures electrical activity in the brain.

June’s symptoms continued to progress as she didn’t want to eat or drink and wasn’t responding to people. Her family had no answers as to what was going on.

“She was in really bad condition,” Randy recalled. “She didn’t eat for probably four or five days. Her little sister … was the one who motivated her, and she finally started drinking those chocolate protein drinks. … That’s what was able to keep her alive. … She was knocking at death’s door.”

In October 2024, June was taken to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Utah where Randy said “every test you can think of” was performed. A pediatric psychiatrist was eventually able to diagnose June with catatonia. Randy explained catatonia is when a person’s brain becomes infected and has a lot of pressure, so it starts shutting the person’s body down.

“That explains why she wasn’t wanting to eat, drink, or anything,” Randy stated. “She was going into a full catatonic state.”

She’s currently being treated for catatonia but a local doctor has also diagnosed her with autoimmune encephalitis, which is a group of conditions that causes swelling in the brain. It happens because the immune system mistakenly attacks brain cells.

“Her brain is not working right. It’s on fire,” Randy said. “There are those spurts she comes out and she’s herself but it’s not very often.”

In March 2025, June was once again taken back to Primary Children’s. She was admitted for a month-and-a-half and this time, doctors asked if they could do a genetic test with June and her parents.

Based off the genetic testing and having been diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, June and her parents will be meeting with Dr. GenaLynne Mooneyham, who is the top specialist for the Autoimmune Brain Disorders Program for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland.

They will travel to NIH on May 4 to meet with Mooneyham and have more tests done that Randy said can only be performed there. They plan to be there for two weeks, but if doctors find something they can treat, their time there may be extended.

“I know that God has put his hand forth because to be able to even be accepted into the National Institutes of Health, you have to have such a rare case,” Randy stated.

The family is asking the community to support June’s journey to get the medical care she needs by making a financial donation. Donations can be made via Venmo @Randy-Batton.

“I’m a person who doesn’t like to ask for help. Never have. … but we realize this is too big for us to handle by ourselves,” Randy said. “We love living here in this community because we know that people will rally behind other people who need it. We are very appreciative for everybody around us. … It’s the best place to raise a family.”