We are excited to provide an update on Gianna Joy!
2021 marks the third time since Care Fund Kid Gianna Joy was born on June 28, 2017, that Care Fund has been a helping hand with mortgage support. Born with a rare condition not fully understood or defined, it manifested in her joints at birth with clubbed feed, dislocated knees and elbows, sublexated shoulders and hips, and clenched hands. Today we know that she has Larsen's Syndrome, for which Gianna has endured 4 surgeries in Florida, the location of the only surgeon experienced in this condition.
In fact, due to both the rarity and complexity of Gianna's condition, this is the only doctor confident that he could give Gianna the opportunity to walk. "We had been to multiple doctors before him and each one had not given much hope that she would walk," Mom explains. "Our initial consult with [this doctor] made the decision easy for us. He looked at Gianna and her medical history, looked us in the eye, and said ‘I promise you she will walk.’"
Coinciding with major surgeries, Gianna’s family applied for Care Fund support in 2018, 2019 and most recently in December 2020 following her October surgery to remove hardware from her left leg. Gianna’s mom, dad and 10-month-old sister continue to travel frequently to Florida for procedures like this one and physical therapy. Mom hasn’t worked since Gianna was born and Dad manages his time between working in Arizona to pay the bills and traveling to Florida to support his family.
Gianna is a trooper as her family accompanies her on her medical journey, and we are so happy to report that she is astounding everybody by walking all on her own! "Under [the doctor’s] expert care and Gianna's hard work, she is now able to walk everywhere, and it never gets old," Mom exclaims.
You can witness Gianna's infectious energy in this video, when she was featured at Care Fund's 2019 Desert Sky event.