credit – SWNSThere “wasn’t a dry eye in the house” as a little boy took his first steps down the aisle at his mom’s wedding.
But it wasn’t the sight of him in his cute outfit, or his beaming smile that broke the tissue barrier, rather it was because of the special harness he had used to train himself for the occasion.
credit – SWNS10-year-old Frankie Penfold was born with SUCLA-2 mitochondrial depletion syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder which affects the early development of the brain.
Symptoms include being mildly deaf, not being able to hold his head up, and not being able to walk, and eventually his parents Hannah and Tom were told by doctors he wouldn’t live past his teenage years.
Hannah admits it was “really heartbreaking” and that her relationship with Frankie suffered from barriers.
“I’d never heard of mitochondrial disease,” Hannah told the British news media outlet, SWNS. “It was really heartbreaking, and something I’ll never get over.”
In his earliest months, he was diagnosed with hearing loss, but then Frankie started to miss developmental milestones like lifting his head and sitting up. A battery of tests dragged on, leading to the diagnosis of SUCRA-2 just before his first birthday.
Tests also revealed that both Tom and Hannah had faulty gene copies which Frankie had inherited. The couple were told their son would never be able to sit up, hold his head up, crawl or walk, and he was only expected to live until his teenage years.
“It was massively eye-opening,” said Hannah. “As much as you try to live a normal life, there are barriers up, all the time.”
Eventually though, she and Frankie set a goal of walking down the aisle together at her marriage to Tom, with whom she already had two children.
CHLIDREN OVERCOMING THE ODDS:
He began having sessions on different physiotherapy machines at Gympanzees—a physical education organization for disabled kids based in Bristol. His favorite was a machine called the Upsy, which helps him stand upright, keep his head up and walk, aided by an adult.
“Frankie literally got in it, stood up for the first time—and his eyes just beamed,” his mother remembered.
Frankie spent five years training on the Upsy, and on Hannah and Tom’s wedding day, he was able to walk his mom down the aisle, followed by Penelope and Teddy, his older sister and brother.
“He worked so hard, and on my wedding day in 2023, he managed to do it,” Hannah said. “Frankie wasn’t nervous—he’s such a people person. I can’t put into words how much it went.”
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the house—I’ll never forget that moment, for the rest of my life. People were smiling and crying and clapping the whole time,” she recalled. “It felt like each of those clips were precious memories—the achievement of what Frankie was doing was so much.”
WATCH the magic moment below…
SHARE This Heartbreaking/Heartwarming Story With Your Friends On Social Media…
Source link