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Today, Hannah Harlow is a happy 3-year-old girl, full of life.

She loves to dance, dress up like a princess, and she can’t wait to light the City of Tyler’s Christmas tree on Thursday night in her role as the 2023 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Miracle Child.

But that wasn’t always the case. Before a diagnosis and successful treatment of an incurable rare disorder, Hannah was in constant pain.

Parents BJ and Tabitha Harlow said Hannah looked like a healthy baby, but was always hurting and cried constantly unless she was being held. Trying to stand or walk was extremely painful. She wasn’t meeting milestones like other babies her age normally would.

When she was about 1 year old, the Harlows took Hannah to a routine doctor’s appointment and brought up their concerns. After seeing Hannah walk, the pediatrician knew something wasn’t right and referred them to a pediatric endocrinologist at the Christus Trinity Clinic.

Ironically, the specialist they were referred to was Dr. Ana Gutierrez Alvarez, who had just completed a year-long study on a rare and difficult to diagnose genetic condition called X-Linked Hypophosphatemic (XLH) Rickets.

Alvarez had just moved to Tyler from New York City and was working at the clinic for only a week when she first saw Hannah.

“I looked at her X-rays and I thought, ‘What are the chances?’” Alvarez said. She immediately suspected XLH Rickets but continued to study Hannah’s symptoms. About two months later, Alvarez officially diagnosed Hannah, who was 2 years old then.

Alvarez called it a “miracle” that the two had been put in each other’s lives at the right time in order for Hannah get diagnosed with the extremely rare, incurable condition and begin treatment.

The condition makes the body unable to produce or retain phosphorus, according to Alvarez. Without phosphorus, bones don’t harden, so they are brittle and can easily break. It also stunts growth. Left untreated, children with XLH Rickets live in constant pain, have stunted growth and lifelong struggles with bone breakage and impaired mobility. Due to brittle bones, children have to be very careful, limiting physical activities and even play.

Although there is no cure, Alvarez began progressive treatment with hopes to slow and possibly even reverse Hannah’s symptoms. Within just a few months, Hannah began to walk, jump and even run. Recent X-rays show the bones in her legs have completely healed and she has caught up with the growth chart.

At 3 years old, there is nothing Hannah can’t do, said Christina Mosier, program manager for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Hannah’s story led her to be named the 2023 Miracle Child. The announcement was made Tuesday morning alongside family, Tyler Mayor Don Warren, officials from Christus and CMN, Alvarez, and media at the Goodman-LeGrand House in Tyler.

Hannah will stand alongside Warren to light the city’s Christmas tree on Thursday night after the annual Rotary Clubs of Tyler Christmas Parade, which begins at 6 p.m. A Miracle Child has lit the city tree every year since 1987.

BJ Harlow said his daughter has dubbed herself the “Princess of the Parade” and she has been talking about the tree lighting and parade all week.

“She’s so excited,” he said.

Tabitha Harlow said their 3-year-old daughter is living her best life.

“We can’t keep up with her,” Tabitha said. “She’s in tumbling, ballet, jazz – just a normal, rambunctious 3-year-old. It was awful to see your kid in so much pain and not knowing what to do, so going from that to this happy little girl who’s all over the place is just amazing.”

The Harlows are very grateful to the team who helped get Hannah diagnosed and are also proud to have the opportunity to shed light on the rare disorder and spread awareness.

“Her story is really a miracle story, with the timing of how we got in to see the doctor at just the right time to a specialist who had just moved here from New York City, it’s just unbelievable,” Tabitha said.

To help children like Hannah, you can support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. One hundred percent of the funds raised locally for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals stay at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System to provide life-saving pediatric equipment and medical services to children in our area.