Today, May 6th, is recognized all around the world as Wish Bone Day. Wish Bone Day is a day where people come together to bring awareness to a bone condition, Osteogenesis Imperfect. As this day approached, I remembered the traumatic way my parents found out I was diagnosed with this bone condition.
Imagine being a 3-year-old child watching your parents in a panic and being taken away from them. Imagine not fully understanding what was happening around you. All you know is that strangers are taking you from the people you know to be kind, loving, and compassionate. That was me; I was this 3-year-old child. In February 1998, not shortly after my 3rd birthday, my parents were exhausted from being up all night due to my constant crying and nonstop coughing. They assumed it was just a cold and tried everything they knew, but nothing helped. After speaking with my pediatrician, they decided to take me to Scottish Rite emergency room. Upon arrival, the hospital staff did their routine checks and decided to take me back to the x- ray room just to ensure there was nothing unusual happening on the inside. The X- Rays took approximately 45 minutes.
After the x-rays were complete, the doctors and nurses came out to my parents… without me. The doctor explained to my parents that the X-rays revealed that I had several fractured ribs. They contacted Child Protective Services and Law Enforcement. Everyone believed these were signs of abuse and they needed to take me from my parents. I was soon brought out of the x- ray room by one of the nurses. I could feel that something was not right; I just did not know what. What I saw and felt that day changed my life forever. My parents were crying and there were police officers everywhere. I did not fully understand what was happening, but I did know that on that day I just wanted to be back in my mother’s arms and the nurse would not allow that to happen. I began to cry and reach for my mother from across the room.
I was placed with my grandparents until the investigation was completed, which took about 3 weeks. Several family members, friends, and doctors were contacted during the investigation to question them on whether or not they had witnessed anything or saw evidence of abuse. Family members and friends informed law enforcement that they had not witnessed anything more than just the love between parents and their first child. One of my doctors, however, suspected that I was in the early stages of a genetic disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (also known as brittle bones). He had not mentioned it to my parents initially, because he wanted to do more research seeing as though this was a rare genetic disease and let the investigation finish. After several tests along with the recent fractured ribs, the findings confirmed what my doctor had suspected; brittle bones disease, a rare genetic disease. This was the cause of the fractures rather than child abuse. I was placed back with my parents, the investigation was closed, and all of the allegations were found to be untrue. That year, I was medically diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bones). This disease progressed as I got older, and eventually, a wheelchair became my primary means of mobility.
In 2018, I graduated from Kennesaw State University with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. That July, I started my dream job working in a District Attorney’s Office. Although I faced many challenges along the way, I didn’t let them hold me back and continued to push forward.
Happy Wish Bone day to all the thousands of others living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta! Continue to beat the odds!
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