“He is our warrior hero and the definition of perseverance!”
A message from Braden’s family:
From the beginning, Braden has been in constant motion! It wasn’t until he didn’t walk ahead of schedule, like all his other milestones, that we thought there must be a problem. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 15 months. A subsequent MRI showed cerebellar atrophy. No one had an explanation and just treated it as no big deal because he was so “normal” otherwise.
In 2018, I decided I wanted real answers because his spasticity was getting worse. I went back to the drawing board right ahead of his first seizure. After genetic testing results came in April of 2019 as I landed in Cleveland for a conference, I received the life changing diagnosis of KAND. Braden doesn’t let his diagnosis define him and that’s exactly how I like it!
He has seizures, spastic diplegia, optic nerve atrophy, cerebellar atrophy, global developmental delay, ADHD, intellectual disability, anxiety, kidney disease, reduced lung function, sleep apnea and severe behavioral issues. Despite all that, he is still go, go, go and greets each day early and ready to play! He is so loving, especially to babies and animals and talks to both like they can answer him! He loves LEGOs, trains, army men, and My Little Ponies! He loves to be read to and often memorizes his favorite books.
