Bleeding Talent

“My blood counts crashed. I was so wiped out I could barely walk to the bathroom,” Rylynn recalls.

Doctors initially dismissed what was happening as symptoms of anemia. But after a week of tests at Boston Children’s Hospital, Rylynn was diagnosed with not one, but two, rare bleeding disorders: von Willebrand disease and factor VII deficiency.

“Essentially, I’m a hemophiliac,” she says. “My blood doesn’t clot. That’s already rare. For a young female, it’s even rarer.”

After moving from Maine to New Hampshire at age 15, Rylynn began receiving care at the Dartmouth Health Children’s and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD). What started as a simple way to avoid the long drive back to Maine became something more—a vital support system.

“CHaD is my go-to in emergencies,” she says. “They’ve helped with transfusions, iron treatments, and just making sure I’m okay.”

That support turned critical when Rylynn’s diagnosis collided with her passion for cheerleading. During practice, a flyer’s tailbone struck her forehead and left her with a severe concussion.

“I was crying, throwing up, completely not myself,” she says.  

Once her source of joy, the already dangerous sport now posed a serious health risk. Cheerleading is the leading cause of catastrophic injuries in female athletes, with one of the highest concussion rates in youth sports, just behind football and hockey.

With her blood disorders, doctors feared a brain bleed, and strongly recommended Rylynn put cheerleading on pause. She was sidelined for nearly a month while she recovered. During that time, looking at screens was particularly onerous.  

“I couldn’t look at a screen for more than an hour at a time,” Rylynn says. “And we’re on Chromebooks for school all day, plus our phones.” Even the required “impact test,” which would give her the green light to return to sports, was done on a screen. “I failed it six or seven times.”

Still, Rylynn never gave up on cheerleading and finds herself back on the sidelines. This June, she’ll cheer at the 13th annual Dartmouth Health Children’s New Hampshire All-Star Football Game, which raises funds for the hospital that cared for her.

“It’s come full circle,” she says. “Cheerleading caused my worst injury. Now I’m cheering for something that’s helped me through it.”

Rylynn’s no stranger to Dartmouth Health Children’s and CHaD events. She’s volunteered at the Battle of the Badges Baseball Classic, where local police officers and firefighters play each other to support the kids and programs at Dartmouth Health Children’s and CHaD. She’s also active in the Miss New Hampshire Scholarship Program, in which she uses her voice to raise awareness about bleeding disorders. “It’s actually my talent,” she says. “I perform [a play] called ‘Her Story,’ where I talk about my diagnosis and everything I’ve learned from it.”

Through the scholarship program and CHaD events, Rylynn’s found a community and friendships built on shared experience. “It’s more than, ‘we all went to CHaD,’” she says. “We’ve lived through real stuff and have open, honest conversations about it.”

That honesty, she says, is what Dartmouth Health Children’s and CHaD has always given her. “They never talked down to me. Even as a pediatric patient, they explained my options and respected that I could make decisions about my own health,” she says.

Today, Rylynn manages her condition to reduce bleeding with infusions as needed. While she still has to be careful, especially with the risk of concussions, she’s determined to define her life on her own terms.

“I love seeing how CHaD not only gives back, but lets us give back, too,” she says. “I’m honored to be part of it.” 

To learn more about Dartmouth Health Children's Community Fundraising Events, please email chad.community.events@hitchcock.org or call 603-646-5885.