• Nov.10. 2010


Meet Josiah Viera, a typical six year old boy, who loves baseball and got the once and a lifetime chance to play with the Philadelphia Phillies. An extraordinary boy standing only 27 inches tall and weighing just 15 pounds.

Two months after Josiah was born his mother noticed that he wasn’t gaining any weight so her doctor referred her to a specialist, and just after his first birthday he was diagnosed with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome.

Progeria is a rare genetic disease that causes accelerated aging in children. In an interview with ESPN, his mother, Jennifer, said “It’s hard to explain being a mom or a parent and knowing that potentially you’re going to outlive your child.”

Just like most boys his age, Josiah really wanted to play baseball. But his mother was concerned for his health and well being, and she doesn’t want her little boy to get hurt but eventually she gave in. The extraordinary boy played on his local team but was hospitalized after his first game after suffering a series of mini-strokes.

He was openly accepted by his team mates, and they even threw him a surprise birthday party! And at that birthday party they also granted another of his wishes – to see the Philadelphia Phillies play! The team surprised him with 4 tickets to a game. Not only that his favorite player Ryan Howard, was on hand to meet the young boy prior to the game. He presented the boy with a Phillies jersey and also gave him his bat and batting gloves that he had used during practice the day before.