Malcolm Burrell loves his daughter.
That's why he doesn't hold her. He doesn't hug her. He certainly doesn't roughhouse with her.
Ne'veah Burrell has been at home for about three weeks after spending her first month healing in the hospital with 14 bone fractures.
Ne'veah was born with a brittle bone disease and already broke one bone after being home only a week.
She broke her femur while kicking the side of her crib, Malcolm Burrell said.
He and his wife saw the leg was limp and swelling, so they took her back to the hospital.
"It's been a hard month," he said. "Our instructions are to handle her with extreme care. We are supposed to pick her up with a pillow underneath her."
Malcolm and his wife, Mellissa, haven't put clothes on Ne'veah yet because that act alone could cause more fractures.
They bring her out on her pillow and set her on the couch so she can participate with the family, but everyone is very careful not to move her in the wrong way, he said.
It's not unfamiliar ground for Malcolm Burrell, who was born with the same condition.
The doctors gave him an even worse prognosis than his daughter -- he wasn't supposed to live past the age of 21.
But Burrell grew out of it and only had one broken bone past his infancy. Like his daughter's first break, his last was his femur, when he was 13.
To meet the demands of Ne'veah's medical expenses, the Burrells are preparing for the worst.
"We're
just going to take it one day at a time and trust in God," Burrell said. "We're going to continue to meet the challenge and make sure our child is very comfortable."
Burrell said he is working as much overtime as he can get, and Mellissa Burrell works at a hospital where she gets good benefits.
Doctors plan to put pins in Ne'veah's legs that will add stability to her leg bones and won't stunt her growth.
The Burrells are praying that Ne'veah will grow through it like her father did, but there is no telling how long the condition will last.
"We feel blessed, regardless of the situation," Burrell said. "We just believe in God that she will make a full recovery."
Jarrel Wade 581-8310 jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.com To see more of the Tulsa World, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tulsaworld.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Tulsa World, Okla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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