The 2019 Miracle Child Named

TYLER – The 2019 Miracle Child representing the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has been introduced in Tyler. She is Blake Barney, who is 16 months old. She and her parents and sister live in Tyler. Blake was born with a neuro-developmental syndrome called EBF#-HADDS, which hasn’t always been identified. It is a very rare and newly diagnosed syndrome, discovered in 2016. Currently there are only about one hundred known cases of EBF3-HADDS in the world, and Blake is one of the youngest children to ever be diagnosed with it. Blake will be lighting the City of Tyler’s Christmas Tree on T.B. Butler Square at the conclusion of the Tyler Christmas Parade on Thursday evening.

The symptoms of EBF3-HADDS include low muscle tone, delayed development, impaired coordination, decreased mobility, weakness of the eye muscles, lack of smile and laugh, urological abnormalities, and speech delay. Although there isn’t currently a cure for the gene mutation, Blake continues to impress her family and caregivers with her strong will. She attends specialized appointments and therapy sessions coordinated by the Special Needs Clinic, a medical home for medically fragile children made possible by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.