When South East Australian infant Tomm Tennent was born in 1993, it shocked not just his parents and doctors but also everyone else.
Everyone was curious about the boy’s strange illness, which left him with enough skin covering a five-year-old’s body, and wondered what lay ahead for him.
No scan could have alerted Tomm’s parents of the seriousness of the problem, even though they were told their new kid would be special.
After finding out that their child had a condition, they even considered terminating the pregnancy, but happily, they chose not to.
Dad Geoff Tennent was astounded when Tomm emerged, remarking, “I didn’t imagine a human, or a little baby, could ever look like that.”
His mother recalled the moment she met her kid for the first time as well. She said it was pleasant, even though lifting him up and cuddling him made her heart race.
Over the years, Tomm was in the hospital a lot, but not because he was sick; rather, it was so that doctors could assess him and choose the best course of action. There had never been a case like his reported in the literature, so they were at a loss as to what caused him to have so much additional skin.
They eventually offered Tomm and his parents some answers after conducting more research.
In particular, experts pointed out physical resemblances between Tomm and the Chinese dog breed Shar Pei. They discovered that Tomm had 100 times the normal amount of hyaluronic acid in his skin compared to other Shar Pei puppies.
The medical professionals anticipated that Tomm would ultimately show the same signs of degradation associated with ageing that puppies do. And they were right.
But before Tomm reached that point in his life, he had to overcome a number of obstacles. Besides, he was always a handsome young guy who took great pride in his looks.
When I asked him whether he was concerned about what his friends thought of him, he said, “Not really… because they are my friends and they don’t really care how I look.” to 60 Minutes. People say things like “I look cool,” “I look really cool,” and “they don’t say anything” at different times.
It has been twenty-eight years since Tomm and his parents appeared on 60 Minutes. Tomm looks perfectly normal today, with no visible excess skin.
Although Tomm’s tale garnered little media attention when he was growing up—aside from, of course, the moment he was born—many people have been fascinated by his looks throughout the years.
According to his Facebook profile, he and Hannah are a happy couple.
Image Credit: 60 Minutes Australia / Youtube
“Life is easy. We presume that this phrase, which Tomm put on his Facebook page, captures his philosophy and his life. “You make choices, and you don’t look back.”
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