Oftentimes, a person could be desperate enough that they tend to act in any way to get noticed. Some pay for plastic surgery, wear odd costumes or even pose to call attention. While others are seemingly busy to gain popularity, there’s this 16-year-old boy who unexpectedly became famous despite a rare genetic disease.
He was Keenan Cahill. Like any other teenagers, he used to face a mirror, make funny faces, lip-syncing a well-known song and perform as if nobody is watching.
Since it becomes a trend nowadays to post videos on YouTube, Keenan started to innocently upload his usual lip-syncing acts on the site.
Keenan’s uploaded videos entertained hundreds to millions of viewers online. By merely posting lip-syncing videos, Keenan didn’t know that he will soon become an online sensation.
People may never know that behind the humour brought by Keenan’s videos are the struggles he experienced on the hospitals due to an extremely rare disorder known as Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome (MPS).
Undergoing several surgeries on legs as well as on his hips, Keenan often spend his vacation on a children’s hospital in Minnesota. His disorder also called as MPS, is a disease where one is not capable to break down complex sugars called mucopolysaccharides that eventually accumulates throughout the body tissues and organs.
Keenan’s parents have been advised by the doctor’s that if their son will not be treated, the child would likely to be put in a wheelchair when he eventually leaves his teen years.
Keenan was aged 1 when he was observed to be fallen off the growth charts. He could hardly walk until he was 18 months old. His parents became so worried since he also had cases of unusual fits of vomiting.
At age 2, Keenan went into a bone marrow transplant because the doctors told his parents that his life will be at risk if he will not enter into that transplant early on.
Keenan stayed in the hospital after several operations. His mother, Erin O’Brien-Cahill quitted her job being a mortgage underwriter to focus on her child. His father was able to get a job in University of Minnesota as an electrician so he could also (–foul word(s) removed–)ist his child.
On the brighter side, Keenan Cahill indeed becomes an inspiration for most people that despite painful operations, he conquered the struggles of life.
Now, Keenan reached his dream of becoming a star. Presently, Keenan Cahill is now a YouTube sensation that people enjoyed viewing his posts. Some celebrities even wanted to have a video with him or merely a photo taken beside him.
At first, Keenan’s parents were so worried on how he might handle big situations. Eventually, Keenan becomes braver that his lip-syncing videos hit YouTube and continues to gain more clicks giving him the fame and honor that he had ever wanted.
