Before meeting the little bundle of joy that has developed in mommy’s belly, all parents must endure an exciting nine-month wait.
There is absolutely no finer feeling than hearing the baby’s first screams when it is eventually born into the world.
However, for other parents, the birth of a child can turn out to be something they could never have predicted.
Mary and Brad Kish of Illinois, USA, waited anxiously to meet their daughter in the late 1990s.
Mary’s pregnancy had been trouble-free, and the birth had gone well. During the delivery, there were no signs that anything was wrong with their infant girl Michelle.
When she opened her eyes, however, doctors instantly noticed that something was wrong. They didn’t know what it was until they combed through medical texts and consulted a geneticist from another hospital.
Michelle’s face was wide and childlike. She was also losing her hair and had a nose that looked like a little beak.
It was discovered that she had Hallermann-Streiff syndrome, a hereditary condition with only 250 known cases globally.
”No one had ever seen it in person at Children’s Memorial Hospital, where Michelle was born.
When the doctor gave us the diagnosis of Hallermann-Streiff syndrome my heart sank. I was worried how are we going to care for our child who had a rare genetic disorder that was one in five million,” Michelle’s mother said.
Michelle has 26 of the 28 symptoms that are associated with the condition. The condition affects only one in every five million people, yet it produces a slew of health issues.
Michelle has Hallermann-Streiff syndrome as well as dwarfism, which means she can barely reach over her sister’s waist despite the fact that they are just two years apart in age.
Michelle’s condition necessitates a great deal of support, including an electric wheelchair, hearing aid, probe, respirator, and visual aids.
Michelle and her family have also had to spend a significant amount of time in the hospital as a result of the illness. She is sometimes misidentified as a youngster due to her appearance, despite the fact that she is 25 years old.
“Now Michelle is a 20-year-old woman, she is smart as a poodle and she is happier than ever. She is one of the happiest 20-year-olds I know,” Mary, her mother, told the Daily Mail in 2018. She went on to say:
“She enlightens people’s lives with their joy. She knows she’s different but doesn’t let it break her down.”
Michelle is a fantastic and unusual young woman, despite having to struggle against a headwind.
She aspires to be like her older sister and to have a boyfriend, among other things. She doesn’t mind his height because practically everyone is taller than her, but she wishes he had long hair.
She aspires to be a doctor as well!
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