When I was 17-18, I took on a babysitting job for one of the neighbours who lived up the street from my house. They had a little boy who was somewhat similar to Brooke, the little girl in this story. I don't know exactly what Timmy's medical history was; the only thing I knew was that he had been born, along with his twin brother, Tommy, with extreme challenges, including a hole in his heart (both boys had the same thing), and there had been something wrong with the formation of their brains as well. Both boys looked perfectly fine when they were babies, but before they entered their first year of life, that's when it became clear that something was terribly wrong.
Tommy had died when he was around 2; Timmy, when I was babysitting him, was (if I recall correctly) almost 15. He wasn't any bigger than Brooke, and like her, at his age he still looked like an infant; but unlike her, he didn't seem to have as acute an awareness, nor could he move around like her. He could only turn his head, move his arms and legs a bit, and he made distorted vocal sounds. I had often wondered if he was suffering, and I only lasted about six months or so in caring for him, because it was just too hard to bear emotionally. Timmy had two older siblings, a boy and a girl (not twins) who my sister and I had grown up with along with the rest of the neighbourhood children...both were fine and had no medical issues. Their entire family went through so much with the birth of the twins; I remember the girl (Cathy) at one point showing me a tiny ring she had purchased for Timmy's birthday one year. She was so excited about giving it to him, and for me, growing up in a disfunctional household where love was never talked about or expressed, I remember being puzzled by the way Cathy loved her little brother. It was only when I began babysitting him that I began to see and understand the love of family, the closeness and bonding. I believe that Timmy died a few years later, but by then I was no longer living in the area; yet I can imagine the heartbreak that his family went through with his passing.
Anyway, I find it interesting that the doctors say they've never seen anyone like Brooke before, as Timmy seemed to be so similar...although as I said, he didn't have the cognitive awareness that Brooke showed in the video. What I do find disturbing about the story is the doctors wanting to unlock the gene to aging because of her case, and wanting to experiment with the process. That makes me the most wary...
