A mum has told of her horror after doctors suspected she was abusing her own baby.
Kendra Larsen and her husband Eric, came under suspicion when their newborn daughter, Hadley, was found with several unexplained fractures.
But Hadley lives with a rare “China doll” condition that makes her bones so fragile they can snap in an instant.
In total, she has suffered an astonishing 148 fractures, leaving her childhood severely impacted.
Hadley was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease, a condition that stops the body from producing enough collagen to keep bones strong.
But at the time, her parents had no idea.
“When we first took Hadley to hospital, we truly had no idea what was wrong,” Kendra, 44, from Idaho Falls, Idaho, US, told Need To Know.
“She was only four weeks old.
“We thought maybe she had hip dysplasia or something related to her hip, so they started by doing X-rays of that area.
“That’s when everything changed.
“The X-rays showed that Hadley actually had two fractures that were at different stages of healing.
“Because of that, the doctors ordered a full skeletal survey, which means they X-ray everything in the body.
“When those results came back, they found two more fractures.
“Suddenly our tiny four-week-old baby had four fractures, and we had absolutely no explanation for how it could have happened.”
The nightmare escalated when doctors began to suspect something far more sinister.
Kendra recalled how one medic told them he needed to rule out whether they had caused brain damage to their child, now 13.
She said: “Hearing those words as a parent is something I will never forget.
“We had gone to the hospital scared and desperate for help for our bab, and in an instant the focus shifted away from Hadley and onto us – as if we might have been the ones who hurt her.
“Suddenly we weren’t just parents trying to help our injured newborn; we were being looked at as possible child abusers.
“It is one of the worst feelings you can imagine as a parent.
“Shortly after that, a doctor came in and told us Hadley was being admitted to the hospital for her safety.
“Those words are incredibly hard for any parent to hear, especially when you are already terrified and confused.
“What made it even harder was that our newborn baby had multiple fractures and was clearly in pain, and we were trying to process everything while also feeling like we were being treated with suspicion instead of support.
“Thankfully, Hadley had a pediatrician who was familiar with OI.
“He called the hospital and told them he did not believe this was child abuse and that he believed Hadley likely had the condition.”
Even then, the ordeal was far from over.
Kendra said: “We still had to meet with investigators to go through the process of proving we had not hurt our own child.
“All of this was happening while we were caring for a fragile four-week-old baby who we were desperately trying to protect.
“It took about four months for the blood work and testing to confirm the diagnosis.
“Those months felt incredibly long and heavy.
“Every day, we were caring for our baby while also carrying the weight of being suspected of something we would never do.
“When we finally received the official diagnosis, it brought a sense of relief, but it also brought a lot of sadness.
“By that point we had done enough research to understand just how serious OI can be.
“In some ways, getting the answer we had been searching for also meant letting go of the hope that it might be something less severe or something she might simply grow out of.
“The diagnosis gave us clarity, but it also marked the beginning of a completely different journey than we had ever imagined for our daughter.”
Kendra says the ordeal changed their lives forever.
She added: “Looking back, it was one of the hardest chapters of our lives.
“But it also showed us how important awareness is.
“When rare conditions like OI aren’t immediately recognised, families can find themselves in incredibly painful and isolating situations.
“Today, when I look at Hadley, her strength, her determination, the way she shows up with light and joy even after everything she has been through, I’m reminded that her story is so much bigger than those early moments of fear.
“She has turned what started as one of the most terrifying experiences of our lives into a life that inspires and connects with so many people.
“And that little four-week-old baby they once questioned is now one of the strongest people I know.”
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