This is my little brother, avidly watching Toy Story.

As well as remembrance day today, it’s also my his birthday. 

My brother is called Ben, and has a condition called Sanfillipo disease. It’s incredibly rare, and if you try reading the first couple of paragraphs about it on Wikipedia, you probably won’t have a clue what it means (I know I don’t). 

Essentially, he’s mentally the age of a 1 year old. Pretty soon his motor reflexes will start failing, and he’ll eventually become paralysed. 

We found out he had Sanfillipo when he was 10, after years of thinking it was autism. When we found out, they told us that his life expectancy was between 12 and 16 years. 

But 11/11/11 is his 18th birthday. He’s surpassed his life expectancy and is doing really well so far. There’s another thing to be thankful for today :)



(If you want to donate to the charity that’s helped my dad and brother out most, please visit http://www.mencap.org.uk/get-involved. Thanks.) 

1. tigertwo1515 said: Wow, you are such a strong and wonderful sister to be telling us about this as well as leaving us a way to donate to his cause or to anyone else who suffers from this.
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