Floyd-Henry was born on July 19, last year, to northern NSW couple Ross and Jade Morley.
They were completely besotted by their little man from day one and for weeks, there was no hint that there was anything different about him. The only thing that seemed a little out of the ordinary was the rolls and rolls of skin on his legs. It was like he was wearing thick socks that were six or seven times too big.
Jade took him to the maternal health nurse, who measured him up on all the usual growth charts. Until four months, everything looked fine, but then, quite suddenly, Floyd-Henry’s head was in the 103rd percentile but his height was only in the 3rd percentile.
The Morleys took Floyd-Henry to a GP, who referred them to a paediatrician, who sent the bub off for X-rays. In the meantime, Jade Googled “big head, short arms and legs”, and straightaway, up came dwarfism.
“I was bewildered,” Jade says. “Both of us, Ross and I, come from such tall families. And I thought the only way to have a little person is to be a little person.”
Five days later, a geneticist told them, “He has achondroplasia. Definitely, he has it.”
Achondroplasia occurs in about one in 25,000 births. Little boys with achondroplasia typically don’t grow taller than 140 centimetres (four feet, six inches in the old language) and girls tend to get to about 123 centimetres (four feet, 0.3 inches).
About 20 per cent of people with achondroplasia inherit it. The rest of the time, in 80 per cent of cases, it just happens, like anything happens and, therefore, the likelihood of it happening to Ross and Jade is the same as the likelihood of it happening to anyone.
The initial fear the couple felt upon hearing their baby’s diagnosis has now evaporated. They are thrilled to have Floyd-Henry as their son and consider themselves lucky to have been given the chance to be his parents.
“Like everyone, when this first happened, I was so clueless,” Jade says. “I felt so desperate and so helpless, and now I don’t. Now I feel he’s our boy. He’s come to our family. We’ve been given the gift of taking care of him. How lucky is that?”
To watch the beautiful video Jade and Ross made to explain Floyd-Henry’s condition, visit their Vimeo page. For updates on Floyd Henry’s journey through life, visit his Facebook page or blog.
