Brooke Greenberg was a twenty year old with the mental capacity of a 2 year old. Oddly, she never aged or developed to grow beyond the size of a two year old. She suffered from a syndrome where she simply never aged. Howard and Melanie Greenberg, of Reisterstown, MD noted that the syndrome was kind of like the one depicted in the film Benjamin Button. Their daughter is one of about a dozen kids in the world who have what is offhandedly called syndrome X.
Brooke’s hair and fingernails grew, but the rest of her twenty year old body stayed baby sized all her life. She wasn’t able to speak, but she was able to laugh and she recognized her family members. For the first several years of her life, Brook went through inexplicable medical emergencies. According to ABC, she had surgeries for seven perforated stomach ulcers. She had a brain seizure and a stroke soon thereafter. “At 4 she fell into a lethargy that caused her to sleep for 14 days. Then doctors diagnosed a brain tumor, and the Greenbergs bought a casket for Brooke.” Her father told ABC back in 2009 that his family was prepared to encounter and face the pain that would come with her death. They were saying their final goodbyes. Doctors surprised them with the news that she was fine and that there was no tumor. Brooke’s parents noted that “She overcame every obstacle that was thrown her way.”
As researchers note that her body’s development was out of sync, several cases were compared against Brookes. Richard F. Walker is a retired medical researcher who worked at the University of Florida Medical School. He now works at All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg. He has studied Brooke since she was 2, studying her genetic code and comparing it against others with the same condition. “In some people, something happens to them and the development process is retarded. The rate of change in the body slows and is negligible.”
Walker has studied cases like this and he feels a significant finding is a mutation carried on the second female X chromosome. He feels that developmental inertia is caused by a damaged gene.
In Brooke’s case, though her entire life was lived as an infant, her family’s rabbi offered a heart touching eulogy. “While the outside world may have noticed Brooke’s physical stature and been puzzled by her unique developmental state, she brought joy and love to her family.” Brooke is mourned by her family who remember her with love.