Unbreakable: A film by Rebecca Kirwan

Wishbone Day Sydney - a yellow picnic in the park!

Awareness makes a difference

Becoming a scientist

Jazzy is 5 years old and is well on her way to becoming a scientist. Last week she had some pretty hardcore spinal surgery, but this week she was back to work and raising awareness for OI and The Children's Hospital at Westmead Bandaged Bear Appeal, while also pumping out some awesome science moves on the TODAY show. Give her a thumps up! Because #AwarenessMakesADifference! Remember, #WishboneDay is just around the corner.

You just never know

Wishbone Day 2015

Wishbone Day is the largest community awareness effort EVER for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). It has grown in size every year since it began in 2010. Thanks to all who shared their Wishbone Day spirit this year by tagging Wishbone Day in photos and stories, we bring to you this snapshot of Wishbone Day 2015.

Why is Wishbone Day important? Because awareness makes a difference!!  

The spirit of Wishbone Day

There is a growing Wishbone Day buzz in the air!  Individuals and groups worldwide are beginning to plan special events and contributions to this global awareness effort.  We thought now was a good time to share how Wishbone Day started and what it stands for.  

Why not drop us a line and let us know what you have planned for Wishbone Day 2014.  Join us on Facebook, twitter, or pinterest for more updates.


[Transcript]
What is Wishbone Day?

Wishbone Day is an international community awareness effort to raise awareness of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) otherwise known as brittle bones.

[Jo Ragen - Founder of Wishbone Day] Wishbone Day started in 2008.  The OI Society of Australia had a conference and it was really interested in trying to get members engaged in different ways. To look at new ways of getting people to engaged with the society but also to figure out what people wanted from a network of people.  I was invited to do a session on ‘what was possible’ just to get some ideas really.  It wasn't really to do anything other than to get ideas and to figure out what people wanted. As a result of that session we had lots of suggestions [from all the groups] about how to move forward.  The suggestions that came up was that there needed to be more awareness around OI.

[Sharon and Allan Sparkl - parents of Hayley who has OI]  
[Sharon Sparkl] It's close to our heart. At the OI conference back in 2008, Jo did a brain storming session of what we would like to see in a perfect world and, how we can get OI out into the world.  Our little group ...

[Allan Sparkl] We probably had 1/2 dozen in our little group, and everyone just threw a few ideas backwards and forwards, and I guess we [all the groups] came up with more awareness and getting it out there. 

[Sharon Sparkl] We decided that there needed to be more awareness of what OI is.

[Allan Sparkl] There are a lot of other weeks out there with awareness.  Like national breast cancer week and there is jeans for genes day and walk to work day and all that kind of thing so, why not us? Why can’t we organise something that had a little bit of spotlight on Osteogenesis Imperfecta and the people that are living with that?

[Sharon Sparkl] We needed a catch phrase.  We needed something catchy and we [the groups] thought Wishbone Day was the perfect one to go with. And then we left, and we felt on a high. We were really inspired by it.  And then the next thing, Jo loved the idea and she has just taken the ball and kept it rolling.

[Allan Sparkl] Yes, it started off as a pretty casual suggestion. And everyone just threw in a couple of little ideas and stuff to go with that, and it just grew legs and it just snowballed.  When Jo came back and said 'we’ve got something here and we can really run with it', it just felt so satisfying.

[Jo Ragen]  When you ask people to engage with Wishbone Day, the first response if they haven't heard of it before is, ‘how much money do you want?’

Wishbone Day is not a fundraising event …

[Jo Ragen] So if you are creating opportunities for people to make different choices about how they engage with OI [through Wishbone Day it will be OI] they do stop and they think, well what have I got to contribute? And most people want to contribute. But as a world, as a society, we have created these easy options were you can throw a couple of bucks [dollars] into a bucket and you can go away feeling good. But actually, you haven’t done much to change peoples attitudes.  

By taking out the fundraising, what it actually does is have people stop and say ‘well what is it that you need?’  And what we want is to be accepted and to be valued members of our community.  So when they don’t have the option to give money they then say, well what is it?  They will spend more time learning what Wishbone Day is about, what it means to live a life with OI and who is the person that they are supporting.

[Jodie Owen]  It’s taken off so much. All around the world. Some people just go crazy and all-out to celebrate.  They paint their fingernails and everything. It’s such a great and positive thing to see. 

[Andrew Longhurst]  What I like about it is that it’s not about getting money or raising money. Its about awareness.  And I am all for that.

[Julie Stonestreet]  Wishbone Day is such an important day for us because it is a day when we can come together and really really celebrate how fabulous all our OI family are. We love love having Wishbone Day.

[Jo Ragen]  Its about recognising people for who they are, just as they are.  How can we own that?  How can one person own that? 

Wishbone Day is not an organisation.  It is an awareness day.  Everyone owns a piece of it. So when you celebrate it, when you take it on in your community it becomes part of your community. It becomes part of the make up of everyone who is involved.

[Fiona Winters]  Wishbone Day means to me a day of happiness and awareness for OI.  I have had OI all my life and now I have been blessed with three beautiful children and I never thought that would happen.  But with, advances in technology and people being aware of it, it makes life a lot easier.

[Melinda Montgomery]  I think for me because it is an awareness thing, I am big on educating people and dispelling all those terrible myths that there are about having osteogenesis imperfecta.  I think growing up as a child everyone was quite scared of me and there is no need to be. So, I think it is this, bringing that positive education that we can have a life just like anybody else.

[Jo Ragen]  The way that awareness days are normally put out into the world is about raising money for a cure. Wishbone Day is about recognising and respecting people for who they are, just as they are.

Through positive awareness we can highlight the need for better access, greater understanding and acceptance and how communities can make a difference through their actions and decisions.

[Children with OI]  Why is Wishbone Day Important?  Because awareness makes a difference!

For more information visit www.wishboneday.com

We're turning 5!

Can you believe that there is only 126 days until Wishbone Day 2014!  and this year is extra special.  We're turning 5!  We want you to help us celebrate like never before. Get your yellow on and start making plans.  Lets make this Wishbone Day one to remember!

Launch Day - FOSTEO Indonesia, 2013

FOSTEO gathers for their first group photo in Jakarta Indonesia, Sunday 18th November 2013

We welcome to our International Wishbone Day Community friends from Indonesia! Sunday 18th November was a special day in Jakarta, with a gathering of 20 families to launch FOSTEO, a new community of children, adults and families who are living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) in Indonesia.

Congratulations to the OI Community of Indonesia and the wonderful health professionals of the Indonesian Paediatric Society who worked with so many fantastic partners to help those living with OI enjoy the highest quality of life possible.

Wishbone Day Vietnam - Heads-up Asia!

By Caring and Living as Neighbours (CLAN)

On Monday 14 November 2012, CLAN partnered with the National Hospital of Pediatrics (NHP) in Hanoi, Children's Hospital Westmead (CHW in Sydney, Australia), Wishbone Day and other key partners to support the launch of Vietnam's Inaugural Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Club. There are about 120 children who present to NHP for management of OI, and this Club will bring them together as a community, and learn more from them about the best ways to ensure the children enjoy the highest quality of life possible.

In 2013 the Vietnamese OI Community joined their international neighbours to celebrate the fantastic network of Wishbone Day. We're excited and proud that the Vietnamese community is a genuine part of our global celebration.

Heads up Asia!
Happy Wishbone Day!

[O]I wish I may, I wish I might...

By Bek Misic 2013 
[images + text copyright Bek Misic 2013]

Today is International Wishbone Day.  Find something yellow and splash it about...

Two and a half years ago I had never heard of Wishbone Day, or the disease it aims to highlight, Osteogenesis Imperfecta. I was a new mother of a beautiful six month old baby girl full of love and light, and I was reveling in my new role and life with my little family in Far North Queensland.

Then came the sunny morning we gently pulled our daughter towards us in bed for a snuggle and broke her elbow, the long journey to a diagnosis of hypermobility and OI, three femur fractures, a compression fracture to her T6 vertebrae and a broken big toe.

Our little girl is three now. She is charismatic, vivacious, and beautiful. This Wishbone day she is in plaster from her toe to her hip, in what is called a Spica Cast, which, for the uninitiated, is like blending a medieval torture device with a makeshift chastity belt.  It is both inspirational and painful to witness how readily she is again adapting to life in her cast; but adapt she does - looking out the window of our car from her custom Spica car seat, exclaiming  'Mumma I LOVE the world';

one cannot help but follow her lead...

So this Wishbone Day I am making a list with our little girl - of all the things she CAN do rather than rattling off a list of 'no's' and 'don'ts'...

Because she CAN and she WILL...  never say never ... 

Oh,  and what do B1 and B2 have to do with all of this?

Well apart from being in radiant yellow attire, this Bananatastic team have been with our daughter since the day her first Spica was fitted.  Just minutes before she was due for theatre, Stylus spied the supportive pair at the hospital's fundraising stall, positioned between the tea cosies and the crochet throws.  They have watched over her since this first [and each subsequent] cast was fitted...



[B2] 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking B1?'
[B1]'OI am B2'
[B2]'Lets wear yellow all day today to help raise awareness of Ostegenesis Imperfecta'
[B1 and B2] 'Bananatastic!!'




Find out more information about Osteogenesis Imperfecta here Wishbone Day

Addendum:

As the sun set on Wishbone Day our house was graced by a double rainbow that ended it's journey by kissing the Pyramid...

Life is like a rainbow.  You need both the sun and the rain to make its colours appear.' 

[unattributed]

[images + text copyright Bek Misic 2013]

Reproduced with permission from Bek Misic, 2013

Join our Wishbone Day family! Wishbone Day, Queensland

A beautiful fine day was celebrated at Southbank in Brisbane, beside the Brisbane River. 38 people joined us in making a successful Wishbone Day... We had people from Cairns, Rockhampton and Northern New South Wales.

We had balloons,signs, brochures, skeleton, shirts and cake and lots of yellow food. We had so many people come up to us wanting to know more about OI - what it was, etc. We were competing with the Buddha Festival for parking. That proved to be a bonus! It just brought more people to our party!

One young lady who had never met anyone with OI besides her mum and grandma, saw our signs and was blown away! She has now joined our OI Family. Awareness really does make a difference.

New friends were made, parents with young OI kids met other parents, mums with OI who have had children and about to have children met.

Wishbone Day is making a such a positive difference for our next generation and we can't wait for next year!!!

Raechel Richards

Queensland Representative
OI Society of Australia

Need proof that your efforts make a difference?

Have you ever wondered just how far your voice could travel?  This Wishbone Day map is proof that your efforts to raise awareness make a difference!  

Let us know what you have planned for Wishbone Day.

What's possible?

Wishbone Day started with the question "What's possible?"

Since then Wishbone Day has surged its way across the world raising awareness about Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

Wishbone Day is making a difference through each and every one of you who embrace the fun and joy of Wishbone Day!  We've seen improved networks and supports, better access to schools and other community agencies, greater understanding from communities and an overwhelming burst of enthusiasm towards action and hope for the future.

We love hearing your stories about how Wishbone Day has made a difference to your life, the amazing people you've met and the fun you've had on Wishbone Day. :-)

So what's possible for Wishbone Day in 2012?

What's possible for you in 2012?

What's possible for people with OI? What can we do in the world?

Click the Post a Comment link below and tell us!
We want to hear from you what's possible!!

Australian National OI Conference

The Australian OI Society held their 11th National Conference on the 25-27 March 2011, in Collaroy Sydney.  What a fantastic weekend it was.  

Here is a video which captures some of the fun and the true family that OI is.