hospital

September 6, 2017 - 9:33pm
After losing her daughter, Debi Hobbs is working to increase the quality and accessibility to mental health care for children in the Syracuse area.

She wanted to be like Michael Myers.

Debi Hobbs woke up in the middle of the night fearing something was wrong. She found her daughter, Amaya Stethers, in the closet with a knife. Amaya, who had been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and Autism, later told her mother that she wanted to be like famed movie killer.

Even after this episode, Hobbs waited two months, trying everything else in her power, before seeking an inpatient facility for her daughter. When she could, Hobbs avoided the inpatient facilities available around Syracuse.

January 12, 2010 - 4:58pm
SU sophomore Alicia Aiello only grew stronger after being diagnosed with a disease that attacked her intestines and colon.

It was summertime. I was 14 years old, and my life was about to change forever.

Instead of doing normal summertime things, like riding a bike or going swimming, I had crippling stomach pains. After a week, the first blast of pain subsided, only to come back with a vengeance.

I stopped eating — anything I ate increased the pain — and lost 10 pounds. My mom took me to my doctor, who said I was infected with Giardia Iamblia, a germ often found in public pools. That was wrong.