Wishbone Day Awareness

May 6 of each year is recognized as Wishbone Day.

For those of you who do not know what Wishbone Day is, it is the day in which community awareness is promoted for the disease,Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  Many have heard of this as “Brittle Bones.”

I truly was not properly informed about this condition and then I received a flyer in my youngest daughter’s book bag.  You see, she is in kindergarten at Steenrod School in Wheeling, and Steenrod has taken the initiative to bring awareness to the community.  They are directly looking into the face of this horrific disease as one of the fifth graders suffers from this condition.  This young man has endured 55 broken bones in his young life already and Steenrod wants to help bring awareness.

What is brittle bone disease?

It’s a congenital disorder making bones fragile, breaking easily. It is present at birth. In addition to broken bones, it can also cause hearing loss, respiratory or heart failure, spinal cord and brain stem problemsand permanent deformities. There are different levels of the severity, all of which have very serious prognoses.

On Wednesday, May 6, our children will be wearing yellow in recognition of Wishbone Day. I invite you to join in the awareness effort and wear your yellow keeping in mind all those affected by this condition.