Students in Ringgold Elementary School’s fourth-grade class stand with Layla Shook, 5, after a Hustling Kindness! presentation. Layla was born with Apert syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by abnormal development of the skull, fingers and toes due to premature bone fusion. (Contributed photo)
Layla Shook
Layla poses with parents Lisa and Brian Shook. (Contributed photo)With a nationwide spotlight still cast on in-school bullying, one brave little girl and her equally brave mother are helping Georgia kids “hustle kindness” by teaching them it’s OK to be different.
Lisa Shook’s ministry started five years ago when her daughter, Layla, was born with Apert syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by abnormal development of the skull due to bones fusing too early.
The malformation left Layla with a skull the shape of a cloverleaf, with the front and sides bulging out. Her face is set farther back into her head, putting stress on her airway and making it hard for her to breathe. Her restricted airway and unaligned jaw also mean she is unable to eat and needs a stomach tube for nutrition. She suffers from sleep apnea, has webbed fingers and toes and has undergone 54 surgeries so far, but despite all her medical problems, to her mother, she’s a gift.
“When I found out about Layla’s syndrome, I just felt like God gave her to me to share,” Shook said. “So I knew I had to get out there and I had to share her.”
And share she did. In 2015, Shook started her Hustling Kindness! program to teach kids there’s nothing wrong with being different.
For each presentation, she brings a slideshow of Layla and images of her surgeries, depending on the audience’s age, to help tell her daughter’s story. She then explains that even though Layla may look different, she’s just like them and wants to be loved just like them.
The goal of the program is to help kids understand what their classmates with special needs might be going through, as well as teach them to be there for each other when life gets hard.
“Hopefully it will inspire a kid that might be making the wrong path in life and being a bully to realize that other people have feelings,” Shook said.
During the presentations, Layla sits in her wheelchair or stroller as a quiet companion, often nodding in agreement or shaking her head in mock protest. The kids get one-on-one time to get to know Layla, and even though she can’t talk much just yet, her silent strength always leaves an impact on the children, said Shook.
After each surgery, Layla always bounces right back with a smile, her mother said. Even 48 hours after invasive skull surgery, she was back to just being a happy little girl.
“It’s crazy how she’s so strong,” said Shook.
For one child, Layla’s strength served as an inspiration after he broke his leg and couldn’t play football. After hearing Layla’s story, Shook was told, he couldn’t stop talking about her. He refused to quit and determined to heal up and get back on the field.
“Other kids just see that light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
So far, the mother-daughter duo has visited five schools – Ringgold Primary School, where Layla attends; Ringgold Elementary School, Ringgold High School, Calhoun High School and Cedartown High School – and they hope to visit many more in the years to come.
“I love to talk about Layla,” Shook said. “She’s my life and I love sharing her story.”
Follow Layla by visiting caringbridge.org and typing in “laylapresleyshook.”