Lawmaker Seeks Medical Help For Sick Brooklyn Girl, 10

A New York lawmaker is appealing to the medical community to devise a treatment for a 10-year-old Brooklyn girl suffering from multiple birth defects.

Jewel Sulker needs medical treatment to address a complex list of ailments, including a pea-size kidney, brittle bones, and a deformed bladder, state Senator John Sampson, a Democrat of Brooklyn, said.

"She wasn't supposed to live this long. We feel there's some medical technology that can save her life," Mr. Sampson said. "The family is not asking for pity but help."

Jewel's condition has flummoxed a number of doctors at New York City hospitals, her mother, Diane Brown, said. Her daughter, who has no vaginal opening and is deaf, now needs a kidney transplant, Ms. Brown said.

At 3 feet tall and 36 pounds, Jewel is the size of a toddler and communicates using sign language, her mother said. She took her first steps at age 8.

Ms. Brown said each time a treatment is proposed, doctors shy away because of the complexity of Jewel's case. "It's like a domino effect," she said. "When you push one domino, everything falls over."

Ms. Brown said she appealed to Mr. Sampson for help because she did not know what to do next. Her daughter's birth defects stem from a hormone Ms. Brown was taking before she knew she was pregnant.

"My main priority is, I need help for my daughter," she said.