When a two-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital suffering from brain seizures and breathing problems,

doctors could not find the cause of the illness.

But the boy's sister provided an important clue.

The possibility of a rare syndrome few had ever heard of.

In 1987, Ray and Tanya Reid, along with their two children, had just moved to Urban Dale, Iowa. It was Ray Reid's fourth job transfer in three years. Every time we moved, it was an advancement for him. And I was

ready, you know, any time we think he wanted to do, I wanted to go. Tanya Reed was a housewife

who stayed at home to care for her children, six-year-old Carolyn and two-year-old Michael.

Just two days after moving to town, their youngest child, Michael, stopped breathing.

Fortunately, Tanya was a nurse and knew exactly what to do.

She performed CPR and immediately took him to the emergency room of Iowa Methodist Medical Center.

It was fever of viral etiology, dehydration, and vomiting. That was a pretty standard diagnosis and situation.

After he was stabilized, Michael was given a complete physical examination. He had a prior

history of neurologic seizures, but doctors could not determine what was causing them. A few months

later, the reeds moved into a larger unit in the same complex. Ray was working extremely

long hours and Tanya was lonely.

I think in the beginning the relationship was okay. It was enough for Tanya because she was working

and she had enough outlets in her life to keep herself busy and feel that she was happy.

But when she, you know, as the relationship went on and the years went by, I think there

was an emptiness and a lack of true affection between the two of them. Three months later, Michael

had another episode. He stopped breathing and turned blue. His mother called the paramedics.

When they arrived, Tanya was on the floor of the living room,

giving Michael mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

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