Thousands raised to help eight-year-old girl with mould toxicity breathe easier

After her daughter missed half a school year, one Saskatoon mother is fundraising to help keep her child in class.

About three years ago, Nicole Berg went to pick up her daughter Victoria from school. Victoria, who was five years old at the time, had been jumping in puddles with friends just before her mom arrived. It’s an activity she wasn’t allowed to do – and still isn’t.

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When Berg arrived, she said Victoria was very sick.

“It was so hard to even get her home, and when she got home all she could do was lay on the couch,” Berg said. “And for a five-year-old to do that, I mean, what she was experiencing? I can’t even say.”

Berg said she already knew Victoria had reflux, causing acid to burn her esophagus and tonsils during high-impact activities like running and jumping. It’s why she couldn’t play in the puddles.

But what Berg didn’t know yet was what had caused Victoria’s growing list of symptoms.

For Victoria Berg, the best part about being in school is recess. She said she loves swinging on the monkey bars and playing games with her friends. (Nicole Berg/Submitted)

When Victoria was a baby, she had unexplained infections like UTIs and croup. Looking back on old photos, her eyes were sometimes red or underlined by dark circles. Then, in November of 2020, Victoria stopped breathing at night. Her parents took turns sleeping with her in their lap, because she could only breathe while she was slightly upright. Surgery later revealed that Victoria’s tonsils were so swollen they blocked her airways.

Victoria also displayed behavioural and mental symptoms. According to Berg, those included an oppositional defiant disorder, hoarding, brain fog, anxiety, and an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Berg recalled one Christmas morning, when the first thing Victoria did when she woke up was organize her Advent calendar.

“It made me laugh on the one hand, and on the other hand I felt a bit sad,” Berg said. “What child wakes up on Christmas morning to organize?”

It wasn’t until earlier this year that Victoria was diagnosed with the root cause of all her symptoms: mould toxicity.

She calls herself a “mouldy.”

“Mouldies mean that it’s somebody that has mould in their body,” Victoria said.

“I think that the name is cute.”

Mould toxicity is a chronic condition which leaves Victoria’s body unable to properly excrete the various toxins she’s exposed to, like most bodies can. With her compromised immune system, Berg said mould colonizes in her daughter’s gut and sinuses, causing them to essentially stay inflamed at all times.

Victoria’s mould toxicity means she can’t eat food with preservatives. Once she recovers from the condition, Victoria said she most wants to try pizza and chocolate. (Nicole Berg/Submitted)

Getting to be herself

After Victoria was diagnosed, things began changing for the better, and some of the limits that were once placed on the eight-year-old girl are disappearing.

“I learned how to sprint at recess, and my mom was pretty surprised,” Victoria said.

Victoria can start playing, like the other kids her age. Just the other week, she said she played tag with friends and ran through the schoolyard fast enough that she wouldn’t have to be “it.”

Previously, Victoria couldn’t handle a fall due to her reflux. That meant her mom had to catch her if she came down off the monkey bars, but now she can drop without hurting her body.

Her mental health also seems to be improving, according to her mom.

“She still has that tendency of being organized and playful, but not with the anxiety behind it,” Berg said. “It’s just a beautiful thing. I feel like I’m seeing her for the first time.”

Berg said it’s been an emotional experience to be the mother of a child with mould toxicity. “A lot of this has been us figuring out what’s going on with her, what’s the root cause, and it’s been a lonely journey,” she said. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

Victoria said she’s noticed a difference in how she looks in her school pictures.

“I looked so much healthier than I did last year,” Victoria said, explaining that she had obvious dark circles in previous pictures.

Berg said her daughter is bit of “a canary in a coal mine,” and it’s obvious when an environment is toxic for Victoria. The tells include the dark circles, as well as difficulties with listening or paying attention.

While Berg said she tries to find a balance between keeping Victoria healthy without keeping her in a bubble, the family has to avoid several environments. Those include malls, friends’ houses, a dance studio and her last two schools, but Berg said cutting them out is big reason why Victoria has been able to improve so dramatically since her diagnosis.

Clearing the air

To help speed up the healing process and get Victoria doing as many cartwheels as she can, Berg started a GoFundMe on Sept. 9 to raise money in order to buy an air purifier for Victoria’s classroom, helping eliminate the mould she’s breathing in.

Berg said purified air doesn’t cause Victoria’s mould toxicity symptoms to flare as much, and said her daughter has only been sick once since the start of this school year. Just last year, she had to take half the year off from school because the environment made her sick.

The family has already surpassed their $3,400 fundraising goal, with the online fundraiser reaching $5,827 on Tuesday.

The hope is that Victoria will recover from mould toxicity in a few years if her condition continues to improve, letting her be in slightly mouldy places with no issues.

When that day finally arrives, the young girl already has a list of things she’s going to try. At the top of her list is gymnastics.

“I’ve never actually learned how to do cartwheels, but I’m excited to learn how,” she said.