Teen Leads Iowa Fundraiser Ride After Beating Rare Disease

Fourteen-year-old Payten Stout waved to children watching from hospital windows on Saturday, knowing exactly what that wave meant to them. Just months ago, she was the one looking down from the tenth floor.

Payten had been battling on-and-off illness through late 2024, but in early 2025 her condition turned life-threatening. Her parents rushed her to a Cedar Rapids hospital when she struggled to breathe, and doctors quickly airlifted her to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital in Iowa City.

Specialists diagnosed her with a rare disease called ANCA-associated vasculitis. Her immune system was attacking both her lungs and kidneys at the same time.

Payten spent about a month in treatment, including eight days on ECMO, a machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs. Her mother Rhonda Goodman remembers those terrifying nights clearly.

"By the end of the day, you're just praying to God not to take your child and to let you be a mom for one more day," Goodman said. She struggles to find words big enough to describe what the hospital staff did for their family.

Now fully recovered, Payten didn't just attend Saturday's fundraising ride. She led it herself, guiding dozens of side-by-side vehicles through town to honor the hospital and raise money for its programs.

The convoy's first stop brought them back to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital. Riders gathered below the building and waved up to young patients watching from their windows.

Why This Inspires

Goodman understands why that moment matters so much to families still inside. "It's hard to look out from the tenth floor and see everybody going on with their life," she said. "Inside those windows, life kind of just stops."

But Payten's ride shows those families something powerful. Recovery is possible, and someone who understands their fear is out there fighting for them.

Payten's perspective on life has shifted completely. "Your life changes, and you don't expect it, but you just have to adapt," she said.

The family plans to make the ride an annual tradition, creating a new community that raises funds and awareness while honoring the medical team that gave Payten her future back.