Chase Britton – The Boy Without a Cerebellum 0
If you think walking down a hallway in a slow, steady gait is easy, just ask 3 year old Chase Britton. He is living without his cerebellum; this is the part of the brain that controls your coordination, emotional control, motor skills and balance. Doctors are stumped and his mother says that the cerebellum was there in ultrasound pictures taken during her pregnancy. Of course, doctors want to know what happened to it. Legally blind and also missing the pons, a part of the brain stem that has to do with things like breathing and sleeping.
Chase’s doctors are not sure if a genetic mutation or an injury in the womb is the cause of this problem.
Having had another child before Chase, the Brittons felt it was safe to try again because doctors convinced them that the death of that son at two weeks old was not genetic. They also have a healthy, older son, Alex.
The pregnancy was full of complications, but Chase was born at 35 weeks and believed to be healthy. His mother, however, thought that something was wrong during the first year of his life. Unsure if Chase will ever be able live on his own, without help, his parents are worried. He has very little vocabulary, but he manages to use an I Pad and he is potty trained. His parents are hopeful that Chase will accomplish more and more and a geneticist that they have been working with in Buffalo, New York told them to start his college fund. That’s exactly what the Brittons are hoping for.