‘If we focused on what we’d lost, we’d be overwhelmed’

Ciara Dierking faced a sudden and life-threatening illness in December 2024, which resulted in the amputation of all four limbs. She spoke with our deputy editor Jemimah Wright about her journey through suffering, faith and learning to choose gratitude during unimaginable loss

Jemimah Wright (JW): Ciara, could we start your story when your son Colton first became sick? That was about two years ago, wasn’t it?

Ciara Dierking (CD): Yes, it was two years ago, on 26 December that I took my son Colton to the emergency room in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

JW: What was wrong with Colton?

CD: I believe he had strep, coronavirus and cysts on his neck that were caused by the coronavirus. I didn’t go back into the hospital with him after that initial visit, but that was what we were told.