Federalsburg family looks for answers

FEDERALSBURG — Twenty-five years ago, LaTonya Murray made the trek back and forth from Easton to Baltimore for three months just to see her baby girl.

Onyae Murray was born at the Easton hospital in 1998, 23 weeks into LaTonya’s pregnancy. She weighed less than a pound.

“She was the smallest baby that had been born in Talbot County that survived,” LaTonya said.

LaTonya remembers the two of them being on the front page of the Star Democrat that month.

“So the front of the paper basically says ‘Baby girl beats the odds,’” LaTonya remembered.

Because Onyae was born early, she was flown into Baltimore to Johns Hopkins Hospital. She stayed there for three months before LaTonya could take her home. For those months, LaTonya had to travel back and forth from Easton to Baltimore, relying on rides from different people and eventually, medical transportation.

Two decades and some change later, Onyae gave birth to her daughter Aliah Murray 31 weeks into her pregnancy.

“She beat the odds too,” LaTonya said about her granddaughter.

Aliah was born breech, which means that she positioned feet or bottom first, rather than head first, when being birthed. She weighed 2 pounds.

Aliah spent three weeks in the hospital before Onyae could take her home. Two of those weeks were spent in Baltimore, and one week was spent in Salisbury.

Like her mom did with her, Onyae traveled back and forth to hospitals to see her baby.

“I just wanted to bring her home every night,” Onyae said. “I was looking at her clothes, but she wasn’t there with me.”

Although it’s a coincidence that both LaTonya and Onyae had this experience, it isn’t a surprise that the shared experience has contributed to their strong front when it comes to 3-year-old Aliah’s health.

Aliah is unable to walk.

Onyae saw the signs of this early.

“I noticed it around 10 months because she wasn’t walking or even crawling,” she said.

Onyae said multiple doctors dismissed her concerns about Aliah’s mobility. One appointment in Baltimore was only 10 minutes long. At another appointment, the doctor told Onyae not to worry because her child was around the same age as Aliah and wasn’t walking yet either.

“So from there I just started asking my mom questions,” she said.

The mother-daughter duo, who live in Federalsburg, continued taking Aliah to different doctors, looking for answers.

“It was really challenging because, of course, we had to carry (Aliah) all the time,” LaTonya said.

When Aliah was 2, Onyae finally felt heard by a doctor, who gave her referrals to different doctors that might be able to help.

The Murray family still doesn’t have answers. They don’t know if Aliah’s birth has anything to do with the challenge she now faces. But, as a family, they continue to work toward getting those answers.

“My family is very supportive,” said Onyae, who also has a sister and brother that help out.

Aliah — who loves Mickey Mouse, Strawberry Shortcake, Paw Patrol and Ms. Rachel — has braces and other equipment to help with her mobility challenges. Every morning she and Onyae read books and go over shapes, colors and numbers.

Aliah might be starting pre-K in September. It’s something that she and her family is looking forward to. Onyae said that Aliah has a little backpack that she will put her toys in.

“She says, ‘Mom, I’m ready to go to school,’” Onyae said, laughing.

And although they still don’t have answers, expectations or plans from doctors, Aliah has been making progress. LaTonya said Aliyah has learned to roll, scoot and crawl.

“Sometimes we’ll catch her, and she’ll try to pull herself up to us,” LaTonya said.

Though the experiences with doctors have been frustrating, Onyae is still hopeful. The family has plans to take Aliah to a neurologist next.

“I was so small, and now I’m 25, and I have my own child,” Onyae said. “So I’m very hopeful that things will change.”

LaTonya has hopes that telling their story might lead to helpful advice from another family or person who has been through this.

“I just want the right people to hear and understand her challenges and be like, ‘Well, try this place,’ and, ‘Call this place,’” she said.

For other families that might be going through the same thing, Onyae has one piece of advice: “Don’t lose hope.”