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Kendryk's Story

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Images Captured by Kervin Photography


Kendryk was born prematurely on March 16th, 2009 alongside her half-identical twin Julie-Ann.  “Kendryk and Julie-Ann were thought to be fraternal twins – possibly identical when they were born.  When Julie-Ann’s weight greatly increased over Kendryk’s, we had the twins tested.  The test results showed that the twins are semi-identical; sharing identical maternal DNA but the paternal DNA is that of normal siblings.”  These twins could not have been born into a bigger family, with Angel, Ty
CoCo, Allie, and Jeneece as older siblings.

The labour was anything but smooth with multiple problems resulting in Kendryk, the Tiny Light, being born with complete respiratory failure due to a traumatic birth.  The O2 loss caused bleeding, and Kendryk suffered severe brain damage.  Multiple issues began to show signs early in her life.  Her eye sight and her motor development they were labeled as delayed, and she was confirmed to have Cerebral Palsy at 18 months old.   Kendryk’s type is unique; CP is an umbrella term Kendryk is a mixed type with her upper body being more affected. 

A fight from the start, this journey has been filled with many ups and downs, and Kendryk’s mom has tried to remain positive.  “Seeing her in pain [is the worst part], and not being able to make the pain go away … [also] the separation as we have to travel to work with and see specialists.”  However, Christina has found ways to cope, and relies on her friends for support.  “Growing stronger would be the amazing thing … my friend Anissa taught me that we go through things in life that can only make us stronger.”  The one wish Christina has for her Tiny Light is “to never see herself as different from anyone else.”

“Kendryk’s issues are motor and vision issues.  Kendryk’s is cognitively normal, so the goal is for her to live as normal of a life as possible.  Yes there will always be [other surgeries and medicines], but it will be what we can do to give her the best possible use of her body.”  For now though, Kendryk enjoys the fun things every child enjoys – keeping up with her siblings and cousins, playing with dolls, and screaming like it is her past time!  If there is one thing that Christina would like to pass on to other families, it is this: “Find someone who is dealing with what you are but ahead of what you are dealing with.  We were fortunate enough to find a family with a case similar to Kendryk’s.  There are times I want to know if this is normal and what age did this happen with her child?”


Story by Ashley Wadhwani

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