She was Jean Sullivan's little helper in the kitchen. Her daughter Annie was always there to lick the spoon when they would bake goodies together.
"She was such a cutie," said Sullivan. "I miss making cupcakes with her."
But as Annie Sullivan grew, her skin started turning tan. And she had a terrible time fighting colds. Doctors were at a loss.
"We just assumed that her dark tan had something to do with genes," said Sullivan. "We were clueless."
Then, one night, Annie went unconscious in her bed. Sullivan held her little girl's limp body as she performed CPR.
"I knew she was dying," said the Everett mom.
Annie, it turns out, had what's called Adrenal Insufficiency, a condition where the adrenal glands don't produce enough steroid hormones, causing her body to shut down, resulting in severe brain damage.
"Her mental capacity went from a bright 3-year-old to an infant, overnight," said Sullivan.
Annie lived 4 more years but succumbed two weeks before her 8th birthday.
"We know that she is with Jesus," said Sullivan, wiping away tears. "We know that she is healed and that gives us a lot of comfort."
But while that comfort helped her heal, Sullivan wanted to do more. She decided to turn her bitter loss into something sweet.
She calls it "Cupcakes for Annie."
Sullivan and her husband, Bill, take cupcakes to fire stations across our area, educating paramedics about Adrenal Insufficiency, which affects up to 6 million Americans, many of whom don't know they have it.
She is pushing for passage of Senate Bill 1625 in Olympia, which recently passed into the Rules Committee. The bill would mandate medic training to treat the disorder, as well as an inexpensive drug to be carried in all ambulances in Washington State.
Without treatment, a child can die from the disease within just 30 minutes.
It's great progress, but sometimes it feels like time has stood still.
Four years later, Sullivan desperately misses her little girl, and the person she would have grown to be.
"She'd be doing this right now," said Sullivan, mixing up a batch of cupcake batter. "Except I'd be helping her."
To learn more about Cupcakes for Annie visit www.facebook.com/CupcakesforAnnie
More information regarding Adrenal Insufficiency can be found at www.aiunited.org
