Welcome to Luke's Champions! Here you will learn about Luke and his diagnosis of Apert Syndrome!
Arriving almost 4 weeks early, Luke was born on February 2, 2016. The initial excitement of his birth quickly turned to worry as when we saw him, we knew that something was not right. Shortly after his birth, he stopped breathing. Luckily, his pediatrician was standing right there and began to work on him immediately. After Luke was stable, it was decided that he need to be transported to a different, more aptly equipped hospital to make sure he was okay and for them to run tests to find out why he looked so different.
It wasn't long after the geneticists got the results of the tests that were run. Luke was diagnosed with Apert Syndrome and it occurs in an estimated 1 in 88,000 births. Apert Syndrome has no known cause. It is a very random genetic mutation of the FGFR2 gene.
To date, Luke has had 18 surgeries to help him with Apert Syndrome. Each surgery makes it possible for Luke to simply live, whether it is to make room for his growing brain, or to help him breathe, which has been the largest stumbling block so far.
Please continue through the site to get more information on Luke and his wonderful life!
