04 Dec A Place Where Friendship Grows
The families of Evelyn Wichie and Samantha Haney have communicated with each other over the past four years through a parent Facebook group that focuses on Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, which is the condition that both girls are diagnosed with. Osteogenisis Imperfecta causes your bones to break from little to no impact.
The families are from totally separate areas of the country, Samantha is from Texas and Evelyn is from Pennsylvania. Despite this distance factor, and the fact that the girls had never met, the families have remained friends over the years. This summer Samantha made her first trip to the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware, and, coincidently, Evelyn and her mom Sandra were staying at the House at the same time! They were so excited to finally meet each other.
It was a great first meet. The families were finally about to catch up in person and let the girls bond. Samantha and Evelyn remained inseparable during Samantha’s short stay of 2 nights. They played together, went to dinner and appointments together, and even watched a movie in the Ronald McDonald House movie theater together. Evelyn and her family stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware quite often, and Evelyn’s mom Sandra says “because the family had never been here before we gave them a tour of the House and hospital”. Since the girls have the same condition, they had actually had almost the same appointments with the same doctor during their visit.
The girls were frequently mistaken for twins because they look so similar. OI causes a person to not grow as much as the average person. Evelyn is seven years old and weighs 30 pounds. She said that she felt big next to Samantha because Samantha’s almost five years old and weighs 19 pounds. Although Samantha and her family sadly had to return home, the Wichie’s and the Haney’s still plan on continuing their friendship and hope to see each other sometime soon, maybe even in the halls of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware!