THE WORST CASE OF CHILD NEGLECT I’VE EVER SEEN — A TRUE SCARY STORY

 ""This is by far the worst case of child neglect I have seen in my fifteen and a half years as a coroner for Cherokee County.""

In the United States, 70% of people with disabilities are subjected to violence. This is alarming and shows how easily their abuse can go unnoticed. Now consider the story of a girl who could neither speak nor stand up for herself, while her brother, paid by the state to care for her, actively let her die.

And her parents, those who should have had her best interests at heart, kept her away from their extended family and treated her like a nuisance. Heather Leanne Bayard was born on June 6, 2007, to David Eugene and Bobby Joe Bayard. She had a brother named Edward, who was about six years older than her.

Affectionately known by the nicknames Princess, Feather, We Anne, or Kudzu Girl, she was described by her family as ""the rainbow Pegasus you never saw coming."" Heather loved to travel and be in the thick of things. She loved pretty lights and colors and enjoyed watching Disney Jr. She loved music, especially the works of comedian and musical satirist Mikey Mason.

Since birth, Heather has defied all odds and deeply touched the lives of everyone she has crossed. And she truly defied them, because when she was born, doctors told her parents she probably wouldn't survive. Heather had suffered a stroke in the womb and was born prematurely at 28 weeks, but she pulled through.

However, she had many health complications. She had cerebral palsy, a chronic lung disease, and epilepsy, and therefore suffered from regular seizures. She was dependent on oxygen, used a wheelchair for mobility, and also had a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. Reportedly, she had the brain development of a three-month-old infant.

At first, the doctors thought Heather might be blind and deaf, but they eventually determined that this wasn't the case. A common assumption people make when they see someone in a wheelchair like this is that they can't see, hear, or understand what's going on. But that's absolutely not true. Just because they can't talk to you doesn't mean they can't perceive the world around them.

Unfortunately, it's likely that Heather would have been treated this way by those who didn't know her. For this reason, Heather's family said she appreciated those who took the time to talk to her, and that her father and brother were especially close to her. At the time of our story, Heather was 14 years old and lived with her family in Gaffney, known as the Peach Capital of South Carolina.

In 2018, the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent her and her family to both Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Heather's brother Edward, a registered respite care nurse and certified personal caregiver, was assigned to attend to her needs on a daily basis.

As we mentioned earlier, Heather had cerebral palsy. And I think it's important to give those who aren't familiar with it some background information about this condition. There are different forms of cerebral palsy, and Heather had the most severe form, called spastic quadriplegia. Spastic quadriplegia is caused by brain damage that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth.

Several factors can cause brain damage, but the most common include oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery, and infections during pregnancy. In some cases, the death of one twin in utero can be a cause. If one twin dies in utero, the risk of cerebral palsy in the surviving twin is significantly increased. In Heather's case, it was caused by the stroke she suffered in utero and the subsequent premature birth.

People with spastic quadriplegia have difficulties with fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and overall movement coordination. It affects all four limbs and makes it difficult to move around and manipulate objects. This condition is often accompanied by other developmental challenges such as intellectual disabilities, seizure disorders, and vision or hearing problems, many of which...