Seven years ago, our daughter, Alle, was born. After she was given to me by a 1 from the delivery room, I held her carefully, wondering2magical life was. All of our family were excited with the new arrival.
However, our joy3 for only several seconds. We noticed she was
4 crying weakly and refused to sleep. We went to have the doctor check on her health. After the 5, the doctors told us seriously that our daughter was born with the rare bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). At birth Alle's skull looked like a cracked* egg on the X-rays. She6 had many fractures* in her arms, her ribs, her legs, and her wrist.
Watching my daughter suffering was the greatest pain. In the following days, we tried to work out a way to reduce her pain. 7, we were told by the doctor that there was no hope of her being cured a few days later. Finally, my wife and I had to make the 8 and most painful decision of our life—take our five-week-old daughter off life support. The day Alle was leaving us, we took her outside on the hospital deck and held her in our arms9 she passed away.
We had two choices that day: Let the sadness overtake us, or it could be10a positive. Since that day, my wife and I have worked tirelessly volunteering our time hosting special events, and talking to students and the media11OI. We even contacted hospitals to try to get them to join in12cause and this is the battle we are still fighting. Over the seven years, we 13 thousands of hours.
In February of 2015 we started OI Care for you program. We send toy animals to children with OI who are receiving 14 in the hospital. Each one brings a smile and comfort to a child with OI.
Now there are often OI families from neighboring cities and towns coming to thank us for what we do and15them another way to show support for a family member with OI.
