Grace Hardy
Age 4
HDR Syndrome
BRISTOL, U.K.
The Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol

Four-year-old Grace Hardy is a lively character of a girl who lives to be the center of attention.  Her mother Dina thinks she is making up for all the lost time she has spent in and out of The Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, in the United Kingdom. 

Grace has a dizzying medical history of puzzling ailments beginning from the time she was just eight weeks old.  She has suffered E-coli septicaemia (numerous and increasingly serious bacterial infections of the blood), encephalitis, and kidney failure, scarring, and removal, among other ailments.  She has also been hospitalized 17 times for urinary tract infections. 

After years of frustration and not knowing what was making Grace sick, finally a unified diagnosis was made.  Grace has HDR Syndrome, also known as Barakat Syndrome.  The syndrome is characterized by hypoparathyroidism, associated with poorly-functioning thyroid and low levels of calcium that can cause seizures; deafness and partial deafness; and renal dysplasia, which causes mild chronic renal impairment. 

Throughout all of her continuing treatments, Grace has developed tender sympathies to others who are hurt and seeks to comfort those around her, asking, "Are you all right, darling?"  Dina says, "Having a child who has been through such a great deal you can't help going through every emotion possible.  Even with the terrifying times we experienced I would be a liar to say I wouldn't change a thing, but I have learned to embrace the happy, healthy times."