'You do what you have to': The world of sacrifices for a West Boylston family

BALTIMORE — A family from West Boylston is facing the fight of a lifetime for their daughter who is just a year old.

Her father is a police officer and when he's not working, he's flying across the country to help his daughter who has a rare medical condition.

Like any 16-month-old, Charlotte MacNeil is full of life.

But it all changed when her mom noticed something wasn't right.

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"She was kind of gray," her mother, Becky Conway, told Boston 25 News." That's when I realized something was really wrong. She wasn't responsive. I thought she was choking on something."

They immediately rushed to UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester. From there, they went to Boston Children's Hospital.

It tuned out Charlotte was suffering from a very rare condition called Acute Transverse Myelitis. She's paralyzed from the neck down.

"It's really tough because there's nothing we can really do to make her better," Becky said. "We can just provide love and support to her."

Ever since September 5, the family has been at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, where Charlotte is getting specialized care. Her mother hasn't left her side.

And her father Trevor, who's a police officer in Barre, is working his overnight shifts, then flying to Baltimore every week to be with his daughter.

"I'm going back and forth and I didn't really think about the price. It is what it is. I have to be here. I'm not going to not come visit," he said.

It  has been an unimaginable journey they hope leads to answers for a little girl too young to understand.

"You do what you have to do for your child," Becky said. "And there's no option of leaving her here by herself so we make it work."

Just 20,000 people are diagnosed each year with this kind of condition.

Charlotte's parents say they're hoping she will come back Massachusetts in time for Christmas, but they know it's likely she will be dealing with this for a very long time.

The community has stepped up to help the family with an online donation fund.

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