Netflix Takes On the Wrenching Story of a Kid’s Strange Illness and a Mom’s Suicide
Even if they’re ultimately disproven, accusations of child abuse leave lasting marks and, as evidenced by Take Care of Maya, those scars can run terribly deep. Debuting on Netflix on June 19 (following its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival), Henry Roosevelt’s documentary is an empathetic portrait of one family’s baffling ordeal and the ensuing nightmare that befell them courtesy of a medical establishment that purportedly prioritized the welfare of kids and yet at every turn put its own interests first—resulting, tragically, in death.
Take Care of Maya is, first and foremost, a tale about the horror and desperation felt by parents when their child falls ill with a difficult-to-diagnose condition. Born to firefighter Jack and nurse Beata Kowalski, Maya was a bundle of joy who, in 2015 at the age of 9, developed a series of puzzling symptoms: respiratory problems, headaches, blurred vision, lower-extremity lesions, turned-inward legs, and incessant, intense pain. Jack and Beata took her to numerous doctors to no avail, until Beata’s diligent research led them to Anthony Kirkpatrick, an anesthesiologist who had expertise in the puzzling malady from which Maya suffered: complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
In what seemed like a miracle to the Kowalskis, Kirkpatrick didn’t just know what was wrong with Maya—he had a course of action to remedy it. The solution, he claimed, was ketamine, which when administered under the care of a doctor could be a safe, effective treatment for CRPS, stimulating the brain and, in doing so, improving her blood pressure, circulation, and breathing. Maya began receiving low doses of the drug, to little effect. In response, Kirkpatrick decided they had to take an additional, more drastic step: inducing a five-day ketamine coma that would reset her internal system and produce longer-lasting benefits. This was an unconventional (if not radical) option, and that fact was hammered home by Kirkpatrick’s announcement that, because it was so experimental, it was only available in Mexico. Yet with few alternatives, the Kowalskis soldiered onward, traveling in November 2015 to Monterrey to put Maya into a temporary narcotized sleep.