For most young people, falling means a bruise or scratch. For Kaleb Sydloski, it often means a broken bone and surgery. The severity of Kaleb’s osteogenesis imperfecta first became clear to him during a second-grade trip to the roller rink.

​

“I fell down and I broke my leg,” Kaleb said. “I had to have surgery a week later and spent months recovering and healing. I realized I had to be more careful.”

​

Osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that mainly affect the bones. It sometimes includes bone deformities and results in bones that fracture or break easily — sometimes for no apparent reason.

​

“If my friends want to play football or something like that, that’s something I can’t do,” Kaleb said. “I have to be a lot more responsible.”

​

Kaleb’s mom and brother also have the condition.

​

“My family knows what I’m going through but they don’t treat me like I’m fragile or going to break,” he said. “They’re my rock.”

​

When Kaleb was in sixth grade, he missed half the year of school because of surgery complications, and also missed three months of freshman year following leg surgery.

​

He said one of the most frustrating things about it is how others see him.

​

“People think that if they just touch my arm, I’m going to shatter. I work hard just like everyone else, and I work to be the best that I can no matter if it’s harder.”

​

Kaleb Sydloski has been involved with band, tennis and swimming while in high school

​

A Focus on Music

​

Despite the physical risks, Kaleb has participated in high school tennis and swimming, and found his true passion as a musician.

​

“Band is very important to me. It’s something that I can do that is the same for everyone,” he said. “I’m just another student in the group.”

​

Kaleb’s interest in music came from a place of frustration in the beginning, he said.

​

“It was a way to express myself through something that I could do without having to worry,” he said. “When I started with music, it just made sense; I was comfortable.”

​

Kaleb said he learned a lot about himself while participating in band, playing the baritone all four years and guitar in jazz band since he was a sophomore.

​

“This has been the year that I have been trying to really prove people wrong,” he said. “People think that I’m weak, but I want to show that that’s not true.”

​

Kaleb works out, lifting weights and working on flexibility at home, to build muscle.

​

“People will ask my mom why she doesn’t just keep me inside … What they don’t seem to understand is that I am a normal person who wants a normal life.”

​

After more than 10 surgeries and countless broken bones, Kaleb said he tries to look at the positive side of things.

​

“Having all this time where I was recovering allowed me to study independently and really get a grip on my coursework,” he said. “As weird as it sounds, without all my health issues, I probably wouldn’t be the strong student that I am with the future that I have.”

​

Moving On

Kaleb will start at Kalamazoo College in the fall, where he plans to major in psychiatry and minor in music.

​

His interest in psychiatry came from a stutter he had as a child, something he has worked to correct.

​

“I want to learn about the mind and why it does things the way that it does,” Kaleb said. “I think once I can learn about that, it can help me and then I can help others going through things like a stutter or a problem, because it takes its toll on you.”

​

He has spoken at school assemblies and while volunteering about his struggles and determination.

​

“I feel like everything that I’ve been through, everything that has happened to me, has been prepping me for the future,” he said. “I have a drive to prove myself that I may not have had without my struggles; it’s a nice way to think about it.”

​

He plans to join a college jazz band in Kalamazoo and continue to challenge himself academically.

​

“I’ve gone through some very difficult things, and I want to help others be able to get through any problems that they have,” Kaleb said. “I’ve lived with this my entire life; I don’t know anything else so there’s no point in me being sad and feeling sorry for myself.”

​

Though he’ll be moving away, he said Thornapple Kellogg will always be a very special place.

​

“I’ll miss the people I’ve met, the supportive teachers, and my friends that I’m really close to,” he said. “I didn’t do this alone.”