Disease Breaks Bones and Family

November 23, 2013 permalink

Texas father Andrew Huber was driven from his family for over a year because his daughter Kenley had a rare bone disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, treated as abuse by police and social workers.

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Rare bone disease causes dad to be falsely charged with child abuse

by BELO AFFILIATE, Tiffany Craig / KHOU 11 News, Posted on November 19, 2013 at 1:36 PM

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Reading time with their daughter Kenley is never taken for granted for parents Bria and Andrew Huber.

Their family was torn apart for more than a year. It started in August 2012.

"I was changing her diaper and I had just lifted up her right leg and heard a pop," said Andrew Huber.

That pop was a broken leg but when Kenley was rushed to a Dallas hospital, doctors found other broken bones and her dad was eventually arrested for child abuse.

Bria recalled being questioned by police.

"Halfway through my police interview, they told me that they believed that Andrew had been systematically abusing Kenley and her fractures were at varying stages of healing," Bria said. "I had been married to this monster that I never met."

But it just didn't make sense to Bria.

Kenley's pediatrician had never seen any problem and even the nanny reported seeing no signs of abuse.

"I had to step back and intellectualize and say could this have even happened," Bria said. "Let me not be blinded by my love but let me go through and make sure I'm doing everything to protect our daughter."

Andrew was in and out of court while Kenley was taken to specialists across the country to find answers.

Eventually, the family was told about another mother named Rana Tyson.

She was a nurse who had her twins daughters taken away until a diagnosis from a geneticist named Dr. Golder Wilson.

They have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or EDS.

"One of the main symptoms is the underlying structure of the body, including the bones and joints, is fragile. So you get more fractures," Dr. Wilson said. "And therefore, just handling a baby routinely, like any parent would do, can lead to a fracture."

Kenley and Bria were diagnosed with EDS. Bria said she had never heard of the disease before. The discovery also set Andrew free.

"Right now it's just a joy to be back home and have the house," Andrew said. "That's far outweighing the anger. The happiness to have my girls back."

The Huber's want their story to be shared with as many people as possible. They don't want any other family to go through the nearly 14 months of hell they did.

Source: WHAS-TV 11