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Last updated: March 11, 2006
The story of "Baby Gregory" Bryant-Bruce, which became a national and international headliner in February of 1995 is reprinted here as it was told by journalist Mark Silk in the 1996 news article, "A child shall lead them." It was in the wake of this incredible journey that The Gregory Center for Exceptional Children and Families, Inc. was born out of a mother's desperate attempt to make some sense of a world gone awry.
Then....
AJC 0 Edition
© The Atlanta Journal - Constitution
Sunday, 02/18/1996
Section: DIXIE LIVING Letter: M Page: 3
A child shall lead them
While Cheryl and Greg Bryant-Bruce were in the national spotlight fighting charges of child abuse involving their son Gregory, Greg was also waging a battle for his military career. They have emerged victorious in both arenas.
By Mark Silk/STAFF WRITER
Cheryl and Greg Bryant-Bruce can't go anywhere in Atlanta without being recognized as the couple who defeated Tennessee authorities last year, disproving charges that they abused their seriously ill 2-year-old son and reclaiming him from foster care.
It was the most public of times for the Bryant-Bruces. Night after
night, their faces were splashed across local TV news. National news shows including "Dateline" and "Day One" dramatized their cause.
What most people don't know is that the young couple was waging another war against the powers that be at the same time they were fighting for their son.
Just after they were married in the summer of 1992, Greg, a decorated helicopter pilot in Desert Storm, found that his expected promotion had been turned down. Rather than go quietly, he mounted a three-year campaign in which he got his promotion, back pay and acknowledgment that he had been unjustly treated.
"I had my career stripped away, I had my first-born son stripped away," he said. "I had an overwhelming need for vindication.
"I believe in the principles of the Constitution. I believe in America. I wasn't about to roll over for the system. I'd done too many things, been too many places, worked too hard to carve out my niche in society."
Today, the Bryant-Bruces live in a rental home in a pleasant cul de- sac in Jonesboro with their three children. Dominique, 9, and Christopher, 6,--Cheryl's children from an earlier marriage-- dote on their little brother.
Baby Gregory, who will be 3 in June, is gaining weight and learning to crawl. He loves bouncing up and down in his Johnny Jump-up. The doctors, who once gave him two years to live, now say his liver should hold out until adolescence, when he could be eligible for a transplant.
But he is hardly a well child. He suffers seizures and cannot talk.
Although the extent of neurological damage is not certain, it's clear he will never be a normal person.
"I look at him and know he won't have the kind of future I had growing up," said Greg. "He's been denied and stripped of those opportunities. It brings a feeling of dread and anger over me."
For her part, Cheryl, 35, is finishing up the last year of a residency at Morehouse School of Medicine and looking to join a family practice. Greg, 36, is stationed at Fort McPherson, working to organize the 10,000 military personnel who will be on hand to help stage the Olympics.
But the family's life is hardly back to normal.
Nine days ago, a legal team led by the most famous lawyer in America, Johnnie Cochran, filed a $75 million federal lawsuit on their behalf against the Tennessee Department of Human Services and Vanderbilt Hospital for professional negligence and for violating their civil rights.
"This is something we have to do to make sure that the chances that this happens to anybody else are diminished," said Cheryl.
Committed to caring
Determination might just as well be Cheryl Bryant-Bruce's middle name.
"Everything she's encountered, if she's run into some particular
problem, she would fight through," said her father, Curtis Bryant of Sacramento, Calif. "Sometimes I really can't figure out where she got so strong from."
Bryant recalled how as a little girl Cheryl once rescued a litter of kittens someone had left to drown in a creek. For days she tried to coax them back to health, never giving up until the last one died.
Cheryl spent most of her childhood on air bases around the world, where her father was working on missiles and mobile communications systems. After his retirement the family moved to Sacramento, where
she went to high school.
At the University of California--Davis, she studied veterinary medicine and Spanish, played the organ and became a professional dancer. With her dazzling good looks, she also found time to be crowned Miss Sacramento in 1980.
After graduation, she decided to become a general practitioner, joining the Army so she could pay her way through Tufts Medical School in Boston. Halfway through, she danced in the off-Broadway show
"Ben."
"Entertainment," she said, "is my first love."
While in New York, she married an actor and became surrogate mother to Dominique, whom the couple eventually adopted. After a couple of years, Cheryl returned to medical school, then went to Fort Bragg, N.C., to fulfill her Army obligations.
But the marriage went bad, and she divorced after becoming pregnant with Christopher. Later she was transferred to Fort Campbell, Ky. There she met a tall, handsome young pilot named Gregory Bruce.
A decorated flier
Greg was also a military brat, having grown up on various air force
bases around the country and abroad. He started high school in Okinawa, finished up in Marion, S.C., and at 17 enlisted in the Air
Force, becoming an emergency medical technician.
When his four-year hitch was over, he spent 2 1/2 years at the
University of South Carolina, then entered the Army's flight training program. He did so well that when he was sent to Germany, the commanding general made him his personal helicopter pilot.
This was a signal honor, but as a freshly minted pilot-- and the sole black officer in his flight group -- it created no little resentment. His immediate supervisor contrived to alter his first three evaluations, giving him the lowest grade possible a a grade completely at odds with the high praise contained in his superiors'
written reports.
But this only came to light years later.
After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Greg was among the first American troops on the ground in Saudi Arabia as part of the 101st Airborne Division. When the time came for the allies to counterattack, he flew his scout helicopter 40 miles behind enemy lines as part of the force blocking the retreat of Iraq's Republican Guards.
He won three medals.
Detailed to Fort Campbell after Desert Storm, Greg began leading the social life of a bachelor aviator hero. A doctor at the base hospital, Capt. Cheryl Bryant, was different from other women he'd dated.
"I didn't want to involve her in my stupidities," Greg said.
But within a few months, their rather formal acquaintance blossomed into romance, and the two were married in August 1992, just before Greg was slated for a promotion and combat helicopter training in Germany.
In Washington, someone noticed the black marks on his early evaluations and turned the promotion down. Greg was devastated.
"I had on the rose-colored glasses," he said. Said Cheryl: "I was a lot more cynical. I'm (saying,) 'Wake up and smell the coffee. You're a black man, and you're about to be
reamed.' "
It didn't take Greg long to discover what the problem was, but after six months of fighting to get the decision reversed, he resigned. A few days later, he received word of his promotion.
It would take another two years, with help from a letter from the White House, to undo the resignation. Last June, an Army review board concluded that he had been the victim of "error and injustice" and gave him his due.
An ill infant
Not long after he was born in June 1993, it was clear that there was something wrong with baby Gregory. Army doctors referred him to Vanderbilt Hospital, the nearest major hospital, 50 miles from Fort
Campbell. There, doctors discovered that Gregory's liver lacked bile ducts but ruled out the full-blown disease that he would later be found to have.
What began was a kind of war between Vanderbilt and the young, black female doctor who happened to be the sick child's mother.
"I basically pissed them off," Cheryl said. "I had the audacity to stand up and question almighty white power."
Cheryl felt Vanderbilt's care was seriously wanting, particularly when her son's condition seemed to take a radical turn for the worse after a September hospital stay. She suspects that the hospital performed unacknowledged procedures on him then, and as evidence points to the factthat the hospital reimbursed the couple's insurance company when it raised questions about the bill.
Though subpoenaed, the September records have never been produced by Vanderbilt.
On Dec. 6, 1993, the baby fell off the bed during changing, Cheryl said. Within a few hours he was doing very poorly, and she took him once again to Vanderbilt, despite her reservations.
This time, the hospital determined that because of past and recent
hemorrhaging on his retinas, Gregory was a victim of shaken baby syndrome.
Three days later, the state Department of Human Services took him awayfrom his parents and later won its court case. Although the Bryant- Bruces asked again and again for a second medical opinion, DHS and the Tennessee court officials refused.
It was an excruciating time.
"I had an utter sense of despair," said Greg. "I would get in my car, point it down the highway, and drive with no destination in mind."
Cheryl recalled Dominique, then only 6, saying, "They hate us, and
they're not going to give the baby back. They are going to kill him."
To this day, Cheryl wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking her baby is gone.
During this time, they had the support of Greg's Masonic and Cheryl's Eastern Star lodges, and of their church, the First Missionary Baptist Church of Clarksville, Tenn.
"We gathered around them and supported them," said the Rev. Bobby
Harris. "When they were in court, a few of my members went down to the courthouse."
Harris said he urged the couple to stick with the truth as they knew it, and that would set them free. "They are strong because they believe in their God," said Harris.
Greg also drew strength from people's outrage at what was happening to the couple.
Searching for answers
Meanwhile, Cheryl began searching the medical literature for another explanation of the scar tissue on Gregory's retinas. Finally, in January 1995, she hit upon Alagille's syndrome, a rare liver disease that causes retinal scarring.
What convinced her this was the right diagnosis was finding a family in Florida with a daughter who has Alagille's. In a photo, the girl bore an astonishing resemblance to Gregory.
"I thought, now I have the answer, but I need a way to prove it," Cheryl said.
She, Greg and the two older children had moved to Atlanta a few months before so she could begin a residency in family medicine at Morehouse Medical School. She went to Egleston Children's Hospital to
talk about Gregory's case, but the doctors told her they could do nothing without examining the child.
Meanwhile, Gregory was sinking fast. He gained no weight. He suffered intense seizures. When she paid her weekly parental visit, she often had to insist that he be taken to the emergency room.
So, overriding Greg's advice to wait a little longer, on Feb. 9, 1995, she grabbed the boy, ran to her car, strapped him into a car seat and drove straight to Egleston. After checking him in, she called Tennessee DHS and told them what she had done. She also alerted the news media.
"We were victims that really benefited from the court of public
opinion," said Greg. "We knew we had to expose the situation. It was our only recourse."
Within a couple of weeks, the Egleston doctors confirmed Cheryl's
preliminary diagnosis. On June 14, 1995, less than a week before Father's Day, the couple persuaded a Tennessee judge to return baby
Gregory to them. DHS, which had fought the Bryant-Bruces every step of the way, put up no medical evidence of its own to convince the judge otherwise.
Since getting Gregory back, the whole family has been in counseling, which has helped them come to terms with what they've been through.
"I still feel victimized," Cheryl said. "I will feel raped for the rest of my life."
True to his disposition, Greg takes a rosier view.
"I don't feel like a victim of racism," he said. "I feel like a
champion. I didn't lie down."
They get calls from other African-Americans telling them that they've achieved something larger than themselves. "You've done what we didn't have the nerve to do," they say.
"That's one of the reasons we can't just let it go," said Greg. "We have
a mission."
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Vanderbilt Settles Lawsuit Over Sick Child
by Kirk Loggins
Nashville Tennessean (Feb. 03, 2000)
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/02/03/sickba
July 24, 2001
Now....
At the ripe old age of 8 years, "Baby Gregory," these days prefers to be called "Little Gregory", because he is a "big boy" now. Although very medically fragile, he is still beating the odds.
Gregory uses a walker, "drives" his power wheelchair, nods his head to respond to questions and uses communication boards to express his needs and wants. Last year, while he beamed with pride, he was assisted in walking to the stage to receive his MVP trophy for his participation on Henry County's first Challenger League baseball team.
This year, he is succeeding in learning to ride an AMBUCS Amtryke. He eagerly awaits the arrival of his new therapy pool, so he can begin the daily routine of trying to strengthen his flaccid muscles against the resistance of the water. Gregory loves classical music and dreams of taking a trip to the symphony someday soon. He also looks forward to one day going to DisneyWorld. 
Little Gregory now lives "out in the country" in Rockdale County with his mother, sister, brother, the family dog Sandy and three parakeets. He eagerly awaits the placement of an assistance dog from Great Plains Assistance Dog Foundation. Suffering from severe post-traumatic stress syndrome following his ordeal with Tennessee, Gregory does not tolerate being far from his mother's side for more than a short while still until this day. Even in light of all that he endured, Gregory continues managimg to be a happy, high-spirited
little boy with a heart of gold.
Gregory Bryant-Bruce, Sr. left the family in 1996. A divorce is still pending. CW3 Gregory Bryant-Bruce, Sr. retired from the USArmy in January of 1999.
Litigation,led by famed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.,against Vanderbilt University Medical Center ended in a settlement agreement.
Litigation against the State of Tennessee was dismissed in 2003. The law offices of famed Attorney Cochran have already filed an appeal. The case is now again still pending.
Writer/journalist Mark Silk left journalism to go into the ministry, shortly after having penned the article, "A child shall lead them."
Every year in June, reknowned attorney John Mayhoue receives an anniversary call thanking him for the unwavering determination he showed in his fight to bring home "Baby Gregory."
Every year in February, Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce says a thanksgiving prayer in appreciation for the self-less efforts of Gregory's medical team Runette Flowers MD, Benjamin Gold MD and James Barfield MD, as they fought and won the battle to bring "Baby Gregory" safely home.
 Photo by Doan Minh of Vietnam.
The family continues to thank all who supported them with their prayers and kind wishes both then and now.
Current Update:
November 30, 2003
This site now exists in memorium, as today, after having spent a joyous, yet bittersweet holiday weekend with his family, the brave little boy that came to be known to the world as "Baby Gregory" closed the final chapter of an extraordinary life. Gregory Bryant-Bruce packed more life into ten years than most adults will realize in an entire lifetime. Along the way he touched so many people in such a deep and meaningful way that their lives will never be the same. The world is a better place because Gregory passed this way. Gregory died just as he lived, full of dignity and grace. "Baby Gregory" passed away in his sleep, curled up in his mother's arms at 9:33 am this morning. The little boy, who spent the past 10 years battling his liver disease to live each day to its fullest, passed away peacefully with a radiant smile on his face.
It is of note that the family had moved to the San Francisco Bay area in California in August 2002, in order to get Gregory into the Bridge School, a special technology based school for children with severe disabilities. On the night before his death, Gregory was presented with a certificate from the Bridge School claiming him as an honorary student of the Bridge School. He was also honored as a Junior Deputy Sheriff, a Junior Firefighter. Gregory did finally get to see a complete symphony as a VIP guest of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and from October 23-28, 2003, Gregory made his trip to DisneyWorld compliments of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Give Kids the World Foundation.
Gregory David Bryant-Bruce, Jr.
June 10, 1993-November 30, 2003
News Articles on "Baby Gregory"
The San Mateo County Times
'Baby Gregory,' once the focus of legal battle, dies at age 10
Boy's mom kidnapped him to disprove state's abuse claims
By Amy Yarbrough, STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 2:52:35 AM PST
BELMONT -- Gregory Bryant-Bruce Jr., a disabled boy whose misdiagnosis sparked a high-profile legal battle in Tennessee a decade ago, has died at age 10 of a congenital liver disorder.
Gregory died in his sleep the morning of Nov. 30 while snuggled in his mother's arms at his family's Belmont home, according to his mother, Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce.
His family had recently moved to Belmont from the Atlanta area so he could attend the Bridge School in Hillsborough. Born with Alagilles Syndrome, an inherited disorder that causes fewer bile ducts in the liver, Gregory was taken from his parents in December 1993, after child welfare officials suspected abuse.
Months old, Gregory had been hospitalized in Nashville, when doctors discovered bleeding on his brain and hemorrhages behind his eyes -- often signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Hoping to disprove the abuse claims, Bryant kidnapped her son from foster care the following year and rushed him to a hospital in Atlanta, where doctors diagnosed him with the rare liver disorder. Two years after he was taken away by the state, Gregory's parents and brother and sister welcomed him home.
Inspiration to many Known widely as Baby Gregory, the 10-year-old fought hard against his painful disease and gave inspiration to many in the process, according to his mother, who called him an Energizer Bunny boy.
"Gregory had so many miracles and so many times where they thought this was it," said Bryant-Bruce, an emergency room physician.
"Gregory would turn around and come out of it."
But a week before Thanksgiving, Gregory took a turn for the worse and had to be rushed by ambulance to Stanford Medical Center.
His family brought him home the day before Thanksgiving, although it was clear he wouldnt live much longer, Bryant-Bruce said. After he arrived home, an administrator from the Bridge School came to make Gregory an honorary student, just in case there wasn't enough time for him to enroll there.
When he learned the news, big tears welled up under his lashes, his mother said.
Early Christmas Not wanting him to miss Christmas either, Bryant-Bruce called up a friend, Brent Wilson, who runs the County's graffiti-abatement program. Wilson came the day after Thanksgiving with a donated Christmas tree. South County firefighters accompanied Wilson, bringing a fire engine, Teddy bear and small fireman's hat, and made Gregory a junior fireman.
Two of the firefighters were the same paramedics who responded to her 911 call a week before, Bryant-Bruce said.
"Gregory was wide-eyed and looking at the tree, and I thought how wonderful they had all been," she said.
Wilson said he held Gregory, and although the boy was unable to speak, it was clear he was delighted by their visit and all the excitement.
"He stopped crying and looked directly at me and smiled," said Wilson, who learned about Gregory after he was treated by Bryant-Bruce.
"Just holding him and looking at him, all of a sudden it hit me right in my heart."
Although he knew the boy had only a short time, Wilson said he was taken by Gregory's strength to live and how much his family supported him.
"They kept him going, and he kept them going," Wilson said.
 Staff writer Amy Yarbrough can be reached at 348-4339 or by email at ayarbrough@sanmateocountytimes.com .
Unbreakable bond helped fragile child
The disease that killed Gregory Bryant-Bruce also separated him from his family as an infant 12/08/03
Boy at center of suit dies of rare disease 12/01/03
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Note: You will have to copy the entire address above and paste it into your browser to retrieve the archive at the AJC
Gregory Bryant-Bruce, who made news in custody fight as baby, dies 12/03/03
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/12/43544616.shtml?Element_ID=43544616
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
The following articles can be read in their entirety by accessing them through the Atlanta Journal And Constitution archival stacks at www.ajc.com
Vanderbilt settles suit by parents over abuse
Hospital had reported suspicions about couple that later were disproved.
Author: Jane DuBose; For the Journal-Constitution Date: February 4, 2000 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: D1 Word Count: 610
A metro Atlanta couple's legal battle with one of the highest profile hospitals in the South has resulted in a settlement of $100,000 to pay for medical costs for their disabled 6-year-old child.
The settlement was announced by attorneys for Vanderbilt University Medical Center and for Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce, a former Army physician now in private practice in Stockbridge, and her husband, Gregory Bryant-Bruce, a former Army helicopter pilot who retired from the service this
Q & A ON THE NEWS
Author: Date: September 30, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A2 Word Count: 704
Colin Bessonette
Do you have a question about the news - local, national or international? Colin Bessonette will try to get an answer. Call 404-222-2002 on a Touch-Tone phone and follow the instructions. On Access Atlanta, the AJCs online service, jump: Q&A to ask a question or read hundreds of recent Q&A answers.
Q: What happened in the "Baby Gregory" case? Did the family and Vanderbilt University settle out of court, or is the case ongoing?
-Dee
AROUND THE SOUTH
Welfare workers lied, couple alleges
Case involves baby taken from his parents, later diagnosed with liver
disease.
Author: Rhonda Cook STAFF WRITER Date: July 31, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C4 Word Count: 547
Tennessee child welfare workers and officials of Vanderbilt University Medical Center are accused in court documents of lying so they could take a sick baby from his parents and then neglecting the child's health.
In foster care, the child's parents alleged, Baby Gregory was not given medication for violent seizures, was forced to lie prone for extended periods, was rarely held and was fed through a tube because it took too long to spoon-feed him, according to papers filed
Mom denies suspecting husband abused child
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: May 4, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C4 Word Count: 320
Cheryl Bryant Bruce denied Friday claims by attorneys for Vanderbilt University Medical Center that she suspected her husband of abusing their baby.
"They're dealing in a lot of slander and falsehood and mudslinging," Bryant Bruce said in a telephone interview. "I never believed that Greg abused the baby."
The suspicion was cited Monday in support of Vanderbilt's motion to dismiss the $75 million civil damage lawsuit the couple filed against the
COURT NOTES
Simpson lawyer, in town for baby case, visits Decatur church
Author: Mark Silk DeKalb Date: April 4, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A8 Word Count: 508
The case of Baby Gregory Bryant Bruce began in Tennessee, and to Tennessee it shall return. But DeKalb County has played host to a couple of its notable moments.
Last year, after Dr. Cheryl Bryant Bruce seized her baby out of foster care in Nashville and brought him to Egleston Children's Hospital, Superior Court Judge Robert Castellani ruled that Egleston doctors could make their own assessment of the child's condition before turning him over to the Tennessee Department of
 Dr. BryantBruce with Atlanta Attorney John Mayhoue(left to right), responsible for bringing Gregory home, Nashville Attorneys Russ and Bill Willis,the late Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., and Attorney Brian Dunn, also of the Cochran firm.
Lawyer speaks out
Author: Date: March 27, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: B2 Word Count: 132
Attorney Johnnie Cochran of O.J. Simpson trial fame is embarrassed Tuesday while being introduced at Greenforest Baptist Church in Decatur at a fund-raiser for Gregory Bryant Bruce. The child spent a year in foster care after Tennessee authorities accused his parents of abuse, but marks on his body were caused by a disease. The family has hired Cochran to
Couple sues hospital, agency in Tennessee over son's case
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: February 10, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: D5 Word Count: 259
A year to the day after seizing their seriously ill son from foster care in Nashville and bringing him to Atlanta, a couple filed a $75 million lawsuit Friday against Vanderbilt University Hospital and Tennessee social service officials.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville, Cheryl and Gregory Bryant Bruce accuse the hospital, the Tennessee Department of Human Services and numerous individuals of violating their civil rights and of professional
METRO IN BRIEF
Atlanta couple hires Johnnie Cochran
Author: Date: February 7, 1996 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C5 Word Count: 391
From staff reports
Famed trial lawyer Johnnie Cochran has been hired by an Atlanta couple who last year won back their infant son from the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
Cheryl and Gregory Bryant-Bruce had their son, Gregory, Jr., taken away from them in December 1993 after Vanderbilt Hospital doctors concluded that the child had been physically abused. A doctor herself, Cheryl Bryant-Bruce seized the child during a parental visit last February and brought him to
Sick baby's return heralded in Henry
Family to sue over Tennessee's `injustice'
Author: Mark Silk and Bill Montgomery STAFF WRITERS Date: June 15, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C/6 Word Count: 465
Basking in the congratulations of neighbors and friends, Gregory Bryant-Bruce Sr. on Wednesday called a Tennessee judge's decision to return his seriously ill 2-year-old son "the most appropriate Father's Day gift imaginable."
Gregory Jr. had been in foster care for most of the past 19 months because the Tennessee Department of Human Services, relying on Vanderbilt University Hospital doctors, convinced a juvenile court that he had been physically abused by his
`Father's Day gift': Gregory's return heralded
Author: Mark Silk and Bill Montgomery STAFF WRITERS Date: June 15, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C/1 Word Count: 390
Basking in the congratulations of neighbors and friends, Gregory Bryant-Bruce Sr. on Wednesday called a Tennessee judge's decision to return his seriously ill 2-year-old son "the most appropriate Father's Day gift imaginable."
Gregory Jr. had been in foster care for most of the past 19 months because the Tennessee Department of Human Services, relying on Vanderbilt University Hospital doctors, convinced a juvenile court that he had been physically abused by his
Alagille syndrome rare, often affects liver, heart
Author: Date: June 15, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: C/6 Word Count: 295
Ann Hardie
Alagille syndrome occurs in 1 in 70,000 U.S. births, according to medical literature.
However, the rate may be higher because some people may have the syndrome, but not symptoms severe enough to be diagnosed, said Isle Anderson, a clinical geneticist at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
"It can be very variable from person to person, which makes the diagnosis difficult," Anderson said.
Most often, the syndrome is marked by
CUSTODY DISPUTE
Baby Gregory returns to Georgia
Ailing child is reunited with family
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: June 14, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/1 Word Count: 365
Looking drained but overjoyed after a Tennessee judge awarded them custody of their severely ill 2-year-old son, Gregory and Cheryl Bryant- Bruce brought their reunited family home today to a Henry County subdivision.
"It's just an exhausting feeling, after realizing what we achieved," Bryant-Bruce said as his wife, a third-year resident at Morehouse School of Medicine, fed Gregory Jr. early today.
The child had been in foster care in Nashville for most of the past 19
Tennessee authorities may appeal custody decision
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: June 14, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: B/4 Word Count: 302
The Tennessee Department of Human Services may ask an appeals court to overturn a judge's decision that returned 2-year-old Gregory Bryant- Bruce to his parents.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the department said it was "surprised at the court's decision."
The statement maintains the line the department has held since late 1993, when it received reports from Vanderbilt University doctors indicating strong medical evidence that Gregory was
Tennessee authorities may appeal custody decision
Baby Gregory was abused, they say as saga continues
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: June 14, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: B/4 Word Count: 603
The Tennessee Department of Human Services may ask an appeals court to overturn a judge's decision that returned 2-year-old Gregory Bryant- Bruce to his parents.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the department said it was "surprised at the court's decision" and that its "interest is to ensure that all the evidence is heard and the child's safety is reasonably assured."
The statement maintains the line the department has held since
Baby ordered returned to parents
Judge in Tennessee puts end to 19-month custody battle
Author: STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES Date: June 13, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/1 Word Count: 373
A 19-month custody battle between an Atlanta couple and the state of Tennessee ended when a judge ruled baby Gregory belonged with his parents.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" screamed Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce before she collapsed in tears after the judge's ruling Monday night.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Wedemeyer said he expected to issue the order today.
Wedemeyer said he was considering the best interests of baby Gregory, who isn't expected to live
Atlanta parents win custody battle
Author: FROM STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES Date: June 13, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/1 Word Count: 366
A heart-wrenching 19-month custody battle between an Atlanta couple and the state of Tennessee ended Monday when a judge ruled baby Gregory belonged with his parents.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" screamed Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce before she collapsed in tears after the judge's ruling.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Wedemeyer said he expects to issue the order today and saw no problem with the parents picking up the child from a Nashville foster care home
Letters
In My Opinion
Another victim of Tennessee courts
Author: Date: April 13, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/17 Word Count: 339
LINDA V. MURPHY, Douglasville
The Editors: Like Gregory and Cheryl Bryant-Bruce, I am a victim of Tennessee's juvenile courts. Because I know the pain and uncertainty that not having your father can cause, I agreed to let my ex-husband, who lives in Tennessee, have a six-month extended visit with our two children. We went before a Tennessee juvenile court judge. I told him that I did not wish to relinquish custody, and we both told the judge of our visitation agreement. He issued
Letters
In My Opinion
A family torn apart by bureaucrats
Author: Date: March 14, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/7 Word Count: 329
Karen W. Curtis, Lawrenceville
The Editors: As the mother of two adopted children who were severely abused and neglected, I am absolutely outraged at the lack of sensitivity of the Tennessee Department of Human Services to the case of 21-month-old Gregory Bryant-Bruce Jr.
We dealt with the Gwinnett County Department of Family and Children Services for more than four years and found them to be most caring and understanding, even though we felt like we were living under a glass
NEWS BRIEFS
No indictment for child's mother
Author: Staff and news services Date: March 12, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: G/8 Word Count: 523
Finally, there is some good news for Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce and her husband, Gregory Bryant-Bruce Sr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce said Saturday it was "an absolute relief" that a Davidson County, Tenn., grand jury voted Friday not to indict her on one count of custodial interference - a felony that carries a prison term of one to five years.
"I thought the charges would eventually be dropped, but I did think it would go to trial," said Bryant-Bruce, 34, a second-year
ATLANTA ALMANAC
MARCH 3, THE 62ND DAY OF 1995
Child returned to Tennessee
Officials there blame bruises on abuse; parents cite diagnosis
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: March 3, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: F/2 Word Count: 790
Sobbing, Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce ran after an ambulance Thursday as it pulled out of an Atlanta hospital's parking lot to take her 21-month son back to Tennessee.
"It was very bad," she said afterward. "It was horrible."
Two weeks ago, the second-year resident at Morehouse School of Medicine took the baby from foster care in Nashville and brought him to Atlanta to prove that he suffers from a rare liver ailment rather than child abuse.
She faces a
Ailing toddler heading back to foster care in Tennessee
Author: Mark Silk STAFF WRITER Date: March 2, 1995 Publication: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution Page Number: A/1 Word Count: 523
Tennessee authorities today picked up from a local hospital a toddler whose parents allegedly kidnapped him from foster care in Nashville to prove that he suffers from a rare liver ailment rather than child abuse.
Doctors at Egleston Children's Hospital determined that the boy suffers from Alagille syndrome, a condition that can cause severe internal bleeding from small bruises, said the father, Gregory Bryant- Bruce.
"Emory has definitely concluded that he has the
Columbus Ledger Enquirer
GEORGIA BRIEFS
Source: From Wire Reports
Couple accused of abuse say baby wrongfully takenATLANTA -- A couple once accused of child abuse in Tennessee claim in court documents that welfare workers and officials of Vanderbilt University Medical Center lied so they could take their sick baby away from them.Cheryl and Greg Bryant-Bruce, the parents of Baby Gregory, say that in foster care the child was not given medication for violent seizures, was forced to lie prone for extended periods, was rarely held and was fed through a
Published on August 1, 1996, Page B2, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Article 14 of 15; 1127 words
MOTHERLY LOVE' HELPING CHILD'S HEALTH
Source: Associated Press
The parents who fought to remove their 26-month-old son from state custody in Tennessee say he has improved dramatically since coming home.And Gregory Bryant-Bruce Jr.'s pediatrician says the boy shows daily gains even though he isn't likely to survive to adulthood because of a rare liver disorder.``We've got strong faith and he's got strong will,'' said Cheryl Bryant-Bruce, his mother.Tennessee took the baby into custody in December 1993 after
Published on August 26, 1995, Page B3, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
In Loving Memory of JOHNNIE L. COCHRAN, JR.
October 2, 1937-March 30, 2005
Please join the Gregory Center as we mourn the loss of one of our founding board members,paying loving tribute to Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Mr. Cochran contributed generously of himself with regards both to the Gregory Center and to little Gregory. When asked to eulogize little Gregory, Cochran commented, "What can you say about a child that is wiser than everybody in the room put together?" I now ask the question, "what can I say about such a man?" We send out our deepest consolences, prayers and best wishes to the family, the firm, and the many, many friends of Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran. We, at the Gregory Center, will be forever grateful for his numerous contributions. My life personally has been made richer for having known him. I am sure he is in Heaven bouncing Gregory on his knee...
Cheryl BryantBruce, M.D.
http://www.tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/05/03/67578863.shtml
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