A family in Teaneck, New Jersey, is now plagued by a mysterious illness that compels their four children to live their lives in motorised chairs, ceiling rails and support bars.
"I admire my kids because they are relentless. They are brave. They face the world with tasks (like) squeezing toothpaste out of a tube, zipping zippers - these are things that come easily to use," the children's mother, Esther Herzfeld praised her kids for their determination to live.
The first kid in the family to have suffered from the mysterious case was Tziporah, who was only 9 when her feet gradually weakened and she started to fall over.
Esther brought Tziporah from one doctor to another but her actual condition was not pronounced. Doctors initially believed she was suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), a degenerative disorder that leads to difficulty in walking, or worse, death. After rigorous testing, she was considered negative of this genetic disease.
Years later, Tziporah's brother, Tzvi started falling over. A former swimmer and athlete, Ester's son started deteriorating and after his eighth-grade, he could no longer walk, let alone remain standing for a few seconds.
Eventually, the family's oldest child, Rivka, also developed the mysterious condition. While taking a mountain walk on a trip to Israel, she became unable to walk. Esther also knew her youngest daughter, Racheli, is developing the condition when she had to pull herself up the school bus at age 5.
Rivka, now 23, has undergone extensive genetic testing, together with her parents at the Hackensack University Medical Center. She was 50,000 gene abnormalities that would be a signal she had a disorder, but nothing was found. More in-depth testing is underway.
While Esther found it disheartening that disorder remains unknown, she still remains hopeful that their condition would get better.
"If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. We've gotta make the best of a bad situation, because we don't' have a choice. We want our kids to be as dignified possible and we have to be role models for them," Esther said.
