When 3-year-old Molly Duffy met 3-year-old Robbie Edwards, their bond was instant. The toddler best friends look a lot similar and they share a love for the same things. The two are also patients at the Boston Children's Hospital since November, where they are being cared for by experts.
Molly Duffy and Robbie Edwards have the same extremely rare disease called spastic paraplegia type 47 or SPG-47. According to People, only 11 people in the world have this disease and two of them are the toddler best friends.
Spastic paraplegia is hereditary and researches have determined at least 30 different forms of the condition, with the toddler best friends having type 47. At the moment, there is no known cure that could reverse the disease, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Patients are only aided with physical therapy for mobility and muscle strength.
Molly has hypotonia or low muscle tone. She also has developmental delays and can utter 200 words. Doctors diagnosed her condition over a year ago. On the other hand, Robbie was born with microcephaly and experiences seizures. Her motor skills are also underdeveloped and she can utter only 50 words. She was diagnosed with SPG-47 in May 2016.
Doctors say that their conditions can worsen without a cure available. But because the toddler best friends and their families are fighting this rare disease together, it seems as though it's easier to manage the reality. "Until we found Robbie, we thought we were so alone in this journey," Molly Duffy's mom Angela told People.
Since their meeting, the families have been in constant communication and have vowed to find a cure to "save the girls." They have set up the Cure SPG 47 nonprofit organization to help with studies and researchers for the cure, as well as help raise awareness about the disease. They are also part of a support group on Facebook.
