Teen ends rough year with meeting Selena Gomez

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photo gallery

• Children's videographer Mark Bowen, left, captures Selena on a hospital tour led by Betsy MacKay, right, vice president of Public Relations at Children's.
• Dr. Rashmin Savani, division director of neonatal/perinatal medicine at Children's, shows Selena the neonatal intensive care unit.
• Selena puts smiles on the faces of 6-year-old Jakayla Tippen and 5-year-old Damian Alexander.
• Two-year-old Jessica Wright and Selena make sticker pages together.
• Patients from the oncology floor play foosball with Selena.
• Selena holds 7-month-old Kristin Alcaraz who is waiting for a new liver.
• Selena signs Mickey Mouse dolls for patients and their siblings.
• DeNarius Roberts, 7, makes Selena laugh.
• Samantha Wright, 4, is all smiles as she spends one-on-one time with Selena.
• After tears of joy streamed down Kenia Loyola's face, the 11-year-old receives an autograph from Selena.
• Selena hugs 6-year-old Joshua Morairity who underwent an appendectomy.
• Kwame Jones, 17, was excited when he got a picture of Selena from his nurse, and he couldn't believe his eyes when she walked into the room.
• Dr. Kristine Guleserian lets Selena listen to 16-year-old Ryan Griffin's heartbeat. Ryan underwent surgery on Dec. 2 to repair a congenital heart condition.

The best moment of Elizabeth Cortez’s life happened at an unlikely place — a hospital. Even in the midst of dealing with paralyzed arms and hands and pain in her legs and feet, Elizabeth’s ear-to-ear grin came back when her favorite celebrity, Selena Gomez, walked in the playroom at Children’s Medical Center.

For a moment, Elizabeth and recording artist and Disney star Selena traded roles as the 15-year-old sang “Story of My Life” by Frankie J for her. And for a moment, Elizabeth took her mind off medical treatment.

“I’ve had a lot of hard days, but the song shows that even through the darkest times, God will always bring a rainbow at the end,” Elizabeth said.

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Sudden paralysis

Last summer, Elizabeth’s life changed overnight. On July 7, the teen was completely healthy, and the next morning she couldn't move. Elizabeth’s mom, Rosalinda Garcia, rushed her to a local hospital where tests confirmed she has transverse myelitis, a rare neurological disorder that causes inflammation of the spine. After realizing the severity of the diagnosis, Rosalinda sought out Children’s, where UT Southwestern physician Dr. Benjamin Greenberg leads one of only two dedicated transverse myelitis programs in the country.

Making the most of it

Since July, Elizabeth has greatly improved and continues treatment for ongoing pain and paralysis. But her paralyzed arms and hands don’t keep her from moving on. She recently began teaching herself to paint and write with her feet.

Throughout it all, Elizabeth said it’s the happy moments that keep her going. And thanks to Selena’s visit during her recent hospital stay, she has one that will last a lifetime.

“I might have a lot of bad memories from this year, but I now have one of the greatest memories that I will always remember.”

Tags: selena gomez , children , visit , patients , hospital , photo gallery , elizabeth cortez