Meet the Hernandez family. That's Matt and Tuckey smiling with their beautiful young daughters.
Over the past few months, the Georgia state government has ripped this family apart, because one of their daughters has a medical condition that the court refuses to acknowledge.
This all started when Matt and Tuckey noticed some swelling in the lower legs of Emma, their infant daughter.
They took her to a pediatrician, who did some bloodwork and referred them to the ER. After an x-ray of her legs, the hospital's Child Abuse Physician reported possible child abuse, despite the fact that the bloodwork results indicate a genetic disorder as the reason for her injuries.
@GADFCS
authorities seized Emma and placed her with her Aunt and Uncle.
Two weeks later, a case worker visited the Hernandez home and determined that their older daughter, Arya, is obviously happy and well cared for.
The next day, Tuckey was arrested for battery and cruelty to children.
Matt is not allowed to communicate with Tuckey, and Tuckey is not allowed to communicate with Matt or her daughters.
While in the Aunt and Uncle's care, Emma developed a rash on her feet.
The state took Emma from them and sent her to the hospital, where she was put on a feeding tube and given other treatments without any of the family's knowledge or consent.
Emma and Arya were then placed with a foster parent.
At their first visitation, Matt noted that both Emma and Arya had signs of neglect, including cold, mottled skin and discoloration on one of Emma's legs.
The foster parent dismissed his concerns, and DFCS had no interest in hearing them either.
After months of fighting to get copies of Emma's medical records, including from when he first took her to the ER, DFCS finally gave them to him.
Two months later at their first court hearing, medical experts testified that Emma has either neonatal rickets or osteogenesis imperfecta, both of which are medical disorders which cause the types of injuries she has, and that there is no sign of physical abuse.
The judge refused to admit their testimony, choosing instead to rely on the hospital's Child Abuse Physician, who brought no paperwork and did not appear to understand these disorders.
While this hearing is going on, Emma and Arya are transported to a visitation center to meet with Matt. But Matt's in court, and obviously couldn't be in two places at once. The state either messed up their visitation schedule, or intentionally scheduled it so he wouldn't be there. Arya was devastated.
With each visit, Matt sees Arya become more and more withdrawn and depressed, and Emma become more injured and sickly.
During one of the visits, when the case worker came into the room, Arya got scared and ran behind Matt. The caseworker accuses Arya of being racist, and smiles throughout the interaction, clearly enjoying the fear she's causing.
And just last week, Matt found out that his visitations are being cut in half, and they are moving Emma and Arya to a new foster family, instead of back to their Aunt and Uncle.
This case was brought to our attention by the Williams family, who was in temporary custody of Emma and Arya when their foster mother went on vacation. After seeing how much these girls want to go home, the Williams began to investigate, and discovered the horrific tragedy that the state is putting the Hernandez family through.
Despite their own policies, and despite the fact that the caseworker's report states that reunification is the goal of this case, the state of Georgia has refused to acknowledge Emma's medical condition, choosing instead to assume that she's being abused, and continues to prosecute Tuckey and persecute the entire family.
We hoped that these officials would do the right thing, but they seem to be hell-bent on destroying the Hernandez family.
We are going to reunite this family, and here's how you can help:
Email the officials I've listed in the next post in this thread, and tell them to acknowledge Emma's condition, return Emma and Arya to their parents, and drop all charges. And be RESPECTFUL, don't give these people a chance to act like the victims here. You know how much government officials love to make it about them, don't give them that opportunity.
And be sure to repost this, so as many people as possible can help us reunite the Hernandez family in time for the holidays.
