Born: January 20, 1992 in the middle of a snowstorm close to midnight in Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT USA Mom: Judy Scribner DeSouza Dad: Vander Moreira DeSouza Ancestors from: Brazil, America, Ireland, Germany, England, Africa, and Italy. Bryanna was a full-term 7-½ lb. baby girl. Due to a large liver found at the time of birth, she went through extensive testing at Norwalk and Yale-New Haven Hospitals. No diagnosis was determined. Her growth and motor skills appeared to be normal in development; however, in 2nd grade her decline in motor abilities began to be noticed. Her slowness in speech, clumsiness in walking, cataplexy (falling down due to the loss of muscle tone while laughing or showing other emotion), short term memory loss, and handwriting changes began to show signs that something was very wrong. The Head of Neurology at Connecticut Children's Medical Center diagnosed Bryanna in 2001 when she was 9 years old by sending a skin graph to the Mayo Clinic. It took months to be conclusive. Since that time, she has seen Pulmonology, Gastroenterology and Neurology at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford. Everyone that ever knew Bryanna knows she loved chocolate - the gym teacher would bribe her with it every time she would walk around the gym floor for exercise. All the schoolteachers would surprise her with it from time to time. Now she still asks for cookies or chocolate, but can no longer eat by mouth. Though no longer able to drink, she gets this great smile when she tries to take a sip of Mom's coffee or water, and actually does not choke on it. Up until 2nd grade, she enjoyed her ballet and tap dancing classes in Milford, Ct. and participated in several on stage shows. She was always a very sociable child who loved to make new friends and be with family. She loved to put on dancing, drama and singing shows for the senior citizens when visiting Grandma. She always had that great smile for everyone to brighten anyone's day! Still very musical, Bryanna loves to sing and dance when possible. Even if she can't sing out loud, she will now clap and hum to the music. She has always loved her variety of Disney and other videos. Her favorites: Annie, Peter Pan, Spirit, Home Alone, Pollyanna, Shirley Temple, Sound of Music, and Lion King. She is a very lovable child and can be hilarious. Her favorite color is purple. She likes horses, unicorns, angels and rainbows. She also enjoys her April school vacations in Newport, RI. She said she liked the movie "Spirit" since it reminds you never to give up. She said that the best part of the Lion King was when the father tells the son "Remember who you are."