A FAMILY with two generations who suffer from brittle bone disease have raised £1,400 to say thank you to the hospital which is caring for their 11-month-old baby girl and which cared for her dad before her.
Both 11-month-old Tallulah and her dad Kyle Lucas suffer the condition, also known as osteogenesis imperfecta, which means they can very easily suffer broken bones and fractures.
Kyle has already broken virtually every bone in his body since he was diagnosed as a child. So far Tallulah hasn’t broken anything.
But now she has learned to crawl, mum Charlotte Batty said it is already starting to get tougher to protect her from even the slightest of knocks that could leave her needing hospital treatment.
“I’ve got to have eyes in the back of my head,” said Charlotte, 27, of Samuel Square, Gawber. “Because she’s so young, obviously she’s not walking yet, she’s been okay so far, but we have to be so careful.
“As she gets older she’s not going to be able to do anything active which puts any pressure on her spine, so obviously no bouncy castles or trampolines.
“But even if she just bumps her head, or falls on her arm she could break something.
“She could easily fracture her skull, so we’ll end up having to go to A and E much sooner than perhaps other children would.
“She’s just started crawling, and we’re dreading her walking. As soon as she moves anywhere we’re having to watch her like a hawk. It’s hard, but to be honest I’m more bothered about Kyle most of the time, because he’s so clumsy.
“He’s probably broken every bone in his body at some point, but touch wood, he hasn’t broken anything since 2014 now.”
Kyle, who works as a mechanic, was diagnosed with the condition later into his childhood, aged about ten.
The couple knew there was a high chance Tallulah could inherit the condition, but it wasn’t until she was four months old when they elected to have tests that it was formally diagnosed.
“We kind of expected it, but it was still upsetting to get that confirmation,” said Charlotte, a call handler for the police.
Earlier this month they took part in a 5km assault course to raise funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
“The hospital looked after Kyle when he was younger, and we know they’ll be caring for Tallulah up until she’s at least 18,” Charlotte added.
Charlotte and Kyle completed the course with Kyle’s sister Emily Lucas, and their friend Jessica Green, between them raising £1,400 in sponsorship.
“It just felt like a nice thing to do, to give something back,” said Charlotte.
