Victor Padilla was born with a severe deformity that only affects about 200 people in the world. The condition is called Cloves syndrome, which causes overgrowths like tumors, affects the immune system, and causes one half of the body to grow quicker than the other.
According to his doctor, his condition is even rarer than initially expected.
"The sense I have is this is probably even more rare than being a one-in-a-million kind of disorder," Dr. Jennifer Kwon said.
Despite the setbacks, Victor's parents, Jenny and Jerry Padilla, are amazed at his progress. He attends the same pre-school as any 3-year-old would, keeps up with his school work, and plays with his friends. These simple milestones defy the expectations for children living with Cloves syndrome.
"Victor doesn't let anything stop him, he is so motivated. He has proven so many statistics wrong – he has proven all the researchers wrong," Jerry said.
Jennifer is happy that her son was diagnosed at all; many children remain undiagnosed and so issues, which an be fatal, often go untreated.
"There are so many complications that go along with his syndrome and for the most part we have kept him out of the hospital," Jennifer said.
The couple is trying to raise awareness so that people with the syndrome can identify and treat it.
"I think the hardest thing to deal with is the unknown. You know the unknown of what the issues are, and once we know the issues, we can at least grasp them and try to deal with them and figure out how we can overcome them," Jennifer said. "That's why we are trying to raise awareness."
Jenny and Jerry are stunned by how far Victor has come, and he inspires them everyday.
"I say God made him extra special – we never knew he was going to be able to do all the things he can and he amazes us every day," Jenny said. "He has learned to overcome adversary. The kid doesn't act like anything has happened."
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