Brooke Greenberg, 12, weighs 13 pounds and is 27 inches long. Posted on 05/13/2005 10:41:01 AM PDT by LibWhacker
BALTIMORE -- Imagine being frozen in time as a baby forever. It sounds impossible, but it describes Brooke Greenberg.
The Baltimore-area girl may look like a baby, but she's nearly a teenager. In most respects, Brooke looks and acts like your average 6-month-old baby -- she weighs 13 pounds and she is 27 inches long.
Brooke Greenberg, 12, weighs 13 pounds and is 27 inches long.
But Brooke is actually 12 years old, reported WBAL-TV in Baltimore.
Brooke doesn't age. Her syndrome remains undiagnosed and unnamed, and as far as doctors can tell, she is the only one in the world who has it.
Dr. Laurence Pakula has been Brooke's pediatrician since she was born.
"In height, weight, she's 6 to 12 months," Pakula said. "If you ask any physician who knows nothing about her, the response is that she is maybe a handicapped 2-year-old."
Her body may not be aging, but Brooke's health is deteriorating. She is fed through a tube, and she's had strokes, seizures, ulcers, severe respiratory problems and a tumor the size of a lemon.
The four times Brooke has come dangerously close to death, she bounced back and no one knows why.
Pakula points out that the girl has a strong sense of self and of sibling rivalry. Brooke has no language skills, but she does have enough motor skills to pull herself up in her crib or scoot across the kitchen floor.
Pakula said Brooke has thrived because of the support of her parents and three sisters.
"When one sees how much she has accomplished, it's a wonderful reminder that even for someone who's limited, it's a wonderful world out there," Pakula said.
As genetic research expands, scientists might be able to learn the secrets of this little girl. But until then, it is Brooke who is doing the teaching.
I saw the pictures that were on the station's website before it expired--she does look like a normal baby.
No, not you. Just all the posters who are saying such ludicrous things like "Keep her out of Florida" and keep her away from yada yada. Just seems ridiculous.
I actually have heard of someone with this disorder in Minnesota. My aunt's best friend refuses to speak of her son's condition, but he is between 6-9 years old and is still a baby. He weighs as much as a newborn, doesn't speak, and still needs to be fully treated as an infant. If anyone does find a diagnosis, I would like to know what it is. I always figured it was the opposite of progeria.
Like it or not, Michael Schiavo's "victory" made Terri a martyr. If she were still living, she would not be the ubiquitous presence that she is--and would probably be forgotten. The circumstances surrounding her death have insured her name will be invoked often. People who loved Terri just the way she was, wanted desperately for her to live.
Whether people post about her or not, I think of her, in almost every case where "quality of life" is an issue. And apparently, I'm not alone.
A topic from 2005. Just stumbled across something off-site, and searched here to find this.
Martin, you've seen this (at the time), but could it be Genetic Genealogy pingworthy?
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