Boston Police Officer to Compete in Cohasset TRI

On June 23rd, Leanne Teehan, a Boston Police Officer and Dedham resident, will ride 12.1 miles, run 3.2 miles, and swim .25 miles in the Cohasset Triathlon to raise money for the treatment PANS / PANDAS, a condition that, overnight, stripped her then 12-year-old daughter, Devyn, of her ability to speak, walk, or even get out of bed.

After being sick for a brief time with a virus, in October 2023, Devyn went from a 7th grade student who was the light of everyone’s life, athletic, and a completely healthy and happy adolescent to someone who was unrecognizable. She stopped going to school, became nonverbal, didn’t engage with friends or family. Her parents Leanne and Paul Teehan worked diligently to figure out what had happened to their formerly typically developing, good natured, and jovial daughter. After months of misdiagnosis and failed treatments, Devyn was finally diagnosed with PANS/PANDAS.

Teehan’s story is similar to that of up to 33,000 (or one in 200) children in Massachusetts who suffer today from what is now known as Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (P.A.N.D.A.S.) or Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (P.A.N.S). Most are misdiagnosed with mental health illness by medical professionals rather than looking for the root cause.

PANDAS/PANS are autoimmune disorders that occur when an infectious trigger creates a misdirected immune response resulting in inflammation of the brain (Post-Infectious Autoimmune Encephalitis). Triggers can include but are not limited to Strep, Mono, Pneumonia, COVID, Influenza & Lyme Disease. The child/young adult begin to exhibit life-changing neuropsychiatric symptoms such as OCD, tics, anxiety, rage, depression, insomnia and deterioration in school performance.

Symptoms often come on suddenly and leave families in crisis. More children suffer from PANDAS/PANS in our country than pediatric cancers, but far less is known about the ailments. Effective treatments – which often come in layers, are relatively recent and are extraordinarily expensive – can cost families hundreds of thousands of dollars and go largely uncovered by insurance.

Teehan, 51 of Dedham, used to do triathlons 20 years ago, before her three daughters were born. “I saw the opportunity and thought, I can do this. Training will give me a release from all that we have been through,” Teehan said. “Unfortunately, the training has not been great. Devyn has been sick a lot. But, it’s mind over matter. We can do this.”

The fundraising aspect has been going better, Teehan says. “People are donating because of Devyn,” she said. “Devyn was born with a smile on her face. Everyone loves her.” Teehan’s fundraising will benefit the Look. Foundation, which is the organization that formed after a recent merger of the JBC Fund, a local organization that raises money for, and provides information and support to, families whose children suffer with PANS or PANDAS and NEPANS, one of the first local organizations to provide critical information to families of sick children who found themselves with few resources. The mission of the Look. Foundation is to advance funding, support, awareness, diagnosis and treatment of infection-triggered neuropsychiatric disorders. The organization aims to raise $20,000 by being one of the five organizations that are beneficiaries of the triathlon, in which 1,100 people will run, ride and swim for fun and fundraising.

“I am so grateful to all of the families who have gone before us,” says Teehan. “I feel like we are relatively lucky that we are on a path to recovery. Devyn has a long way to go, but when I think about the families who have gone for years and years without a diagnosis or treatment, I just feel grateful that we are where we are.”

It’s thanks to families who fundraise that information is getting out to the public, says Jennifer Vitelli, Executive Director of the Look. Foundation. “Leanne and Devyn are heroes,” Vitelli says. “I am inspired everyday by what PANS/PANDAS families, like the Teehans, are able to endure, seeking information and treatment 24/7 for months or years on end, and still they find time to give back.” To contribute to Leanne’s Teehan’s triathlon and raise money for the Look. Foundation, visit here.

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