Olivier
Gonthier
Born
January 8, 1997

Olivier Gonthier (19 years old)
Born January 8, 1997

4H Syndrome

Dear Olivier,

As a child, you were a sweet litlte guy full of life and curious about the world. Third born of four children, disease has always been apart of your life. When you were younger, you hung around your older brother, who also suffers from Leukodystrophy. You were a spirited little guy. You walked at 12 months and climbed everywhere. You were a playful and healthy litlte boy until you were 6 years old. In Grade 1, you started to suffer from tremors and we noticed that you had trouble with your fine motor skills. At this moment, my heart sunk and I suspected that you also had Leukodystrophy. I only saught help five years later trying to convince myself that there were other reasons behind your problems. When you were diagnosed after an MRI, the world stop yet once again. You refused to tell us about it for a year. You didn’t talk about it. You saw the way the disease ravaged your brother and you were scared. Regardless, you were stable. Doctors didn’t understand why your disease didn’t progress at the same rate as your brother’s. You are 19 years old, the same age as when your brother left us. William was severly handicapped but you can still walk and run. You eat and you can do just about anything physically. You unfortunately have learning difficulties, attention problems, and difficulty getting organized, but you are still a happy and playful boy. We hope that we find a treatment in time to beat this horrible disease. Don’t let go, my boy!!!