By: Las Vegas Now Staff
A little girl in Boulder City has the medical community stumped. She went from a healthy and normal nine-month-old to suddenly having difficulty moving. Now at 2-years-old, Gracie Sauer can only walk a few steps with help, and doctors don't know why.
Her parents feel if doctors knew what was wrong with her then maybe they could find a treatment or cure.
Jennifer and Scott Sauer say Gracie was perfect from birth. Doctors even gave her a clean bill of health. “She was relatively normal until nine months and then that's when everything began regressing,” Jennifer said.
Gracie suddenly didn't want to wake up to eat and could no longer hold herself up. Her frightened parents rushed her to the hospital.
“She was a pin cushion for 2-3 months and they immediately ordered her first brain MRI,” Said Jennifer. Doctors found mild brain atrophy. They told the parents that there seemed to be something wrong with the nerves in her brain that control motor function, but they didn't know why.
“She has some type of metobolic disorder. What ever that is, we will probably never know and it might not have a cure,” said Dr. Heath Hodapp, Gracie's doctor.
Doctors at UCLA were just as stumped but they say gracie's symptoms were likely to never improve and she may only live another 2 years.
“At that point, you just take the doctor's word for it and you do not know when you are going to lose your child,” Jennifer said.
But now almost a year later, Gracie is proving them all wrong and still has doctors guessing. “Sometimes not knowing what is wrong is a blessing because we chose to believe that she will get better and she is getting better,” Jennifer said.
“She has always surprised us. The minute you think she may not do anything like kick a ball, or remember, last Christmas when she took her first step and no one expected that,” said Scott.
Gracie's parents credit her strong will as well as her physical therapist for her continued improvement. The next step for Gracie is a three week camp in Los Angeles where she will get intense physical therapy that will hopefully lead to her eventually walking.
Right now her parents are trying to save up the money for the camp. The classes alone cost $8,000.
If you would like to help the Sauer family send Gracie to camp or learn more about Gracie, just click here.
![]() |

