Usually, when a mother gives birth, she expects to be out of the hospital only days after her delivery, not planning to be back much except for the occasional doctor’s checkup. Julie Bryan had no idea that she and her little girl, Addie, would be spending so much time at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
Julie’s baby girl was born with Larsen syndrome, a very rare bone development condition that affects how the bones grow, causing individuals to be born with both inward and upward-turning feet, and hip, knee and elbow dislocations. Addie’s backward legs required her to have casts at only five days old.
Mom and daughter went in and out of the hospital for years and Julie estimates Addie has had around 60-70 casts throughout that time, plus four surgeries. Mom says, “When she was born, her knees were backward, her legs were all the way up to her head, she had hip dysplasia and a club foot. We didn’t know if she would ever walk or if she would ever run.”
While Addie can’t bend her knees, this 7-year-old is mobile, thanks to the generous free care from the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, her second home. The family was unable to cover the expensive medical costs, but it was the doctors and support workers at the hospital who were able to give her a chance at a normal life.
It was on Addie’s 8th birthday that she came up with a BIG wish. She had her mind set on raising $8,000 to give back to the hospital which has given her so much. Addie just wanted to pay it forward, and started to do so by standing on the street corner with a handmade sign that read, “My birthday wish is to raise $8,000 for my hospital Texas Scottish Rite For Children.”
And boy, did it ever take off. Addie’s sweet wish garnered international attention, including People magazine, and a silent donation that propelled her fundraising farther than she could have ever imagined! What started as a goal of under $10,000 reached it’s way up to nearly $70,000!!!!!
Click below to watch Addie’s story and all the support she received along the way.
