Grant & Gabrielle Calais
Bonjour, y’all! My name is Jhansi Calais Huval, and I’m a Rhizo cousin, supporter, and advocate. Our story is a little different from most others.
My cousin Grant was born on October 30, 1986. He had RCDP Type 1, and I would put him in the “severe” category. Although I was only three years older than he was, I was a regular babysitter once I was old enough (weekends, holidays, even a summer job). Unfortunately, I didn’t discover this wonderful group of people I now call my Rhizo Family until Grant’s death on December 5, 2009. It was only then that I had the thought to google “Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata Syndrome.” My husband and I attended one conference in 2011, and it was a beautiful experience to be around kids like Grant, the only RhizoKid I had ever heard of growing up. I am a middle school teacher, so I am happy to educate my students every year about RCDP and share all your extraordinary children with them. Grant’s parents, Ronnie and Tina Calais, both have Facebook accounts. They have also met Marley Bedford and her family twice as they traveled through Louisiana from Texas to attend the conference. We live just north of Interstate 10 in Cajun Country. Grant has one healthy older brother, Garrett. He currently lives in Pennsylvania. And Grant has a little sister, Gabrielle, who was born an angel (not even weighing a pound yet) on his birthday. Like all RhizoKids, Grant left a lasting impression on every person who learned of him in his 23 years of life! We miss him terribly but find comfort in knowing he is whole in heaven, finally being able to run and talk and play! They are both our little guardian angels and special saints!