Inside, she is exactly the same living seven-year-old girl, but with the body and face of an elderly woman. The brave little Ashanti Elliott-Smith suffers from a very rare disease that cannot be cured. Her body is aging 8 times faster than normal. This means that by the time she is 10, she will be "folded" just like an 80-year-old woman
Even now, when she plays with her classmates and listens to her favorite band JLS, she has to deal with such age-related problems as arthritis and a weakening heart. However, 24-year-old mom Ashanti Phoebe is confident that her daughter will have as normal and even happy childhood as possible. This disease is a genetic disorder called Progeria, or Hutchinson-Guildford disease. Apart from her, there is only one child in the UK with the same disease. Patients with Progeria have an average life expectancy of 13 years.
However, Phoebe, who has another 4-year-old daughter, said, "We try to take everything from every day." "Ashanti is such a cheerful little girl, she is so cute." “I am very proud of her. She does not allow illness to interfere with her life. She is a very bright personality that does not leave anyone indifferent. " While her friends have turned from babies to agile children, Ashanti looks more and more like a little old woman. In the presented photographs from the children's album, you can see each stage of the aging of the girl with the experiences of the mother.
Infant hair has fallen out, and signs of old age appear on the skin, which makes passers-by turn around. The girl has weak hands, in 3 years she will have arthritis, and the heart and respiratory apparatus of an 80-year-old man. Its development stopped at the weight of a three-year-old child with a height of 1 meter. It is unlikely that Ashanti will grow up yet. Her body is very weak, so the girl needs to be protected from sick children, because diseases such as chickenpox and flu can kill her. However, when Ashanti was born (May 2003), she weighed like a normal, healthy baby - about 2.5 kg.
“I didn't know that she would be deprived of the future that I wanted to give her,” - mom.
Phoebe says: “The pregnancy was going absolutely normal, and I thought that my daughter would be healthy. Alby (the girl's father) and I were looking forward to her. “Three weeks after birth, when her body began to seize with convulsions, we first thought that something was wrong.”
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“7 months: our first Christmas. I began to suspect that something was wrong."
Phoebe rushed with the girl to the hospital and was shocked that the doctors mistakenly concluded that the baby was being shaken by some adult. “I was completely dumbfounded. In the end, they admitted that nothing like this had happened and we had done nothing wrong. But it still upsets me very much."
"I gave birth at 17, but my family had 11 children, so I have a lot of experience in babysitting." Doctors ran a huge number of tests to find out what was wrong, but the results did not show anything definite. But over the following months, Ashanti got worse and worse. Phoebe, who lives near Brighton, says: “She was still having seizures, was not gaining weight and was bald. My doctor thought I was neglecting her. " A worried mom demanded more tests. Just before their fifth birthday, the girls were sent to the London Children's Hospital on Great Ormond Street. The doctor only needed one look at her to understand the reason.
"First birthday. We just learned the diagnosis. I can't believe she has Progeria"
“When they explained to us what Progeria is, I fainted. Later Alby explained to me that it would be like caring for my grandmother. " “He said he had to take care of Ashanti like an old person, because her body is aging very quickly. It was terrible, but I knew that he had to accept it and come to terms with it."
"3 years. She's such an inquisitive baby."
“My mother is very close to Ashanti, so she was especially depressed. Now the baby is not the same as before. " “It was very difficult for my mother to accept that she was going through her granddaughter.” The cause of the disease is in a defective gene, while it is not hereditary. Ashanti's younger sister Brandy Lou is absolutely healthy. There are only 52 cases of Progeria recorded in the world, including a 12-year-old girl, Hayley Oakins, who lives in Bexil, near Ashanti. The girls saw each other a couple of times and became friends. However, Ashanti's father, 40-year-old Alby Elliott, described how depressing her current condition is: “Ashanti is my world. And my life is devastated by the knowledge that she is so sick."
"I used to be the owner of a metal recycling company, but I gave up everything to spend all my time with Ashanti." "I'm so proud of her - she's a wonderful daughter."
"3 years. With dad in Santa's cave"
One of the hardest things for Phoebe is when passers-by start staring: “I get very angry when people start staring at Ashanti. I'm not ashamed of her at all - I just don't want them to make her feel uncomfortable. It would be better if people just came up and asked what was wrong with her. " “When kids start staring at her, Ashanti usually smiles and says, 'This is because I'm beautiful.' And indeed it is. The brave little girl doesn't let anything upset her. She tries to participate in everything that her friends do. Phoebe says, "During her physical education at school, she can't run, but she's allowed to throw balls with the guys."
"4 years. The first day at school. I was worried, but she was fine."
"When arthritis starts to hurt her knees and she asks me why, I just tell her that she is special." Like other girls, Ashanti goes to regular school; loves to play with his puppy Samson and is a big fan of Girls Aloud and JLS. Her mom says, “Ashanti has a poster of JLS member Aston Merrigold on the ceiling so she can look at it when she falls asleep. He is the absolute hero of her heart. " “Last year she and I went to their concert and one of the guys blew her a kiss. Her weak legs trembled so much in her knees.
Ashanti also loves horses very much, so Phoebe wants to take some riding lessons for the disabled because she is too fragile for normal riding.
"5 years. Holidays in Florida. We had such a good time."
In the past few years, the family has had a good time visiting various locations, including Disney World in Florida. Phoebe has set up a special box of memories, where she puts every drawing that Ashanti draws at school, and all her things. She says: "I keep everything related to Ashanti, because she is very dear to me." “I won't even throw out a sock. She is the most amazing girl and so full of life. Every moment is priceless."
"6 years. School photo. I love her smile so much. She's so happy."
Last year, Ashanti underwent trial treatment at a hospital in Marseille, in the south of France, where she visits every few months. This program aims to improve the quality of her life. Unfortunately, however, she will not be able to renew it. Her parents, knowing that they could not fix the irreversible, decided not to tell Ashanti the whole truth about her illness. Phoebe explains: "She understands a lot about her condition, but we don't talk to her about predictions, because we don't want to scare her." "Telling your daughter this truth is the hardest thing in the world."