About Luke

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Luke came into the world prematurely via C-section. Born with multiple fractures and broken bones, his doctors diagnosed him with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), more commonly known as Brittle Bone Disease. His condition left him especially helpless, yet for the first eight months of his life he was largely neglected by his biological parents and suffered from malnutrition.

Social Services stepped in and brought him to the care of my parents, Frank and Lucy Hurt, who have a reputation for tackling some of the most difficult cases such as his.

When Luke entered my family's home, he was in a fresh partial body cast and had suffered from malnutrition for nearly all of the first nine months of his life. His premature birth had left him with a permanent visual impairment and the malnutrition rendered him unable to even hold his own head up, and instilled a lingering fear of any sudden movement or strange noises. Aside from occasionally crying, Luke made no attempts at communication or interacting with other people, as he had apparently been left to fend for himself in his previous home.

Luke's brittle bones caused us to exercise great caution when handling him, as we knew so little about the disease. Fortunately, we were able to find a number of Brittle Bone resources online which helped us to better understand what it entailed and to be thankful that his form of OI is one of the milder variations.

A few months later, Luke became capable of sitting up without tipping over, and enjoys pinching the new discovery that are his toes. This was around the time when we learned that he is blind in one eye and has very poor vision in the other, requiring one of the most powerful prescriptions the optometrist could offer. I don't think Luke minds wearing glasses, though, and in fact he probably fits in with the rest of the family even moreso, since we all inherited Mom's eagle eyes!

The glasses have empowered Luke to match up faces with the voices he has been hearing since moving to the farm. It has also proven helpful in reassuring him when he experiences unknown noises or sees unfamiliar items. He has progressed quite far, as he is now able to roll over and can hold himself up for longer periods of time. He still cannot crawl, but spends his days being passed from one family member to another, constantly being talked to and listening as everyone talks to each other. His language skills have developed exponentially as a result of this nearly constant interaction. Even then, we would never have guessed how much of an impact this would have on him!