MINNEAPOLIS -- When Michelle Laven's story hit the internet last week, thousands of people she never knew became instant cheerleaders in her fight for life. Laven lost that battle Sunday, just after 8 p.m.
Laven suffered from a rare condition called Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD); a form of brain damage that leads to a rapid decrease of mental function and movement. It took only one month's time for CJD to consume Laven.
Laven's husband Kip was at her side last week at North Memorial Hospital. He called KARE 11 to educate others on this one-in-a-million disease and re-called how the symptoms surfaced just 28 days prior.
"She started talking funny, and I kept telling her I thought it was a stroke," Kip said.
A few days after those symptoms, more changes.
"Everything backwards, clothes on backwards, she was confused and having a hard time getting the boys ready for school," Kip recalled.
Laven leaves behind two sons: 8-year-old Devin and 12-year-old Cody.
To donate money to Michelle's Family, send a check to this address:
Cody & Devin's Fund - In Memory of Michelle Laven
Bank of Elk River-Otsego Branch
15800 88th Street NE
Elk River, MN 55330
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
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