NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s one mother’s only Christmas wish — to bring her 10-month-old baby home from Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.  

However, in order to go back to their Mount Carmel home, her daughter needs a special piece of equipment that is only manufactured in Buffalo, New York.  

Diamond Bowery’s daughter, Quinnlee, was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy with Respiratory Distress (SMARD). 

Diamond told News 2 that this disorder causes muscle weakness and respiratory failure, and currently, there is no treatment or cure. 

Since being in the hospital, nothing has worked for Quinnlee aside from a device called a “Cuirass.”

It’s basically a modern-day iron lung that goes over Quinnlee’s abdomen. This helps with her airway clearance so she can now breathe on her own.  

The only issue is the device is manufactured in Buffalo, New York and does not have a license here in Tennessee. Diamond has been working with the Board of Licensing Health Care Facilities to expedite the process, but she has had no success.

Her daughter has been in the ICU for 60 days.

“Our request is to go home, we want to go home with this piece of equipment and give her the best quality of life because this may be the only Christmas we have with her, and we don’t want to miss that as a family. I have a six-year-old at home. and he absolutely refuses to do Christmas without her,” Diamond said. 

News 2 did reach out to the Board of Licensing Health Care Facilities about the process. The state will be meeting with the manufacturer later this month and is currently awaiting a completed application from the manufacturer seeking licensure as a home medical equipment provider for this device to be sold to the family.

If you would like to help the family out, a GoFundMe can be found here.