We try to share a variety of inspiring stories of extraordinary children who defied expectations and succeeded. And the story of Tomm Tennet can move our audience members to tears.
Tomm was born with enough skin to cover a child of 5 years old. The little baby with so many wrinkles that the doctors declared they had never seen anything even somewhat like to it in their whole lives.
In 2003, Tomm’s father, Geoff Tennent, gave an interview to 60 Minutes Australia in which he said, “When he came out I was quite surprised (…) I didn’t believe a person, or a little baby, could ever look like that.”
Since his extraordinary birth, Tomm and his family have been on a long and winding trip; nonetheless, when we look at him now in the year 2022, it is impossible not to drop a tear…
Tomm Tennent was born in South East Australia in 1993, and very immediately after his birth, his parents had the distinct impression that he was going to be an exceptional child.
But prior to the delivery, nobody could have imagined that their son would be classified as a medical mystery when he was an adult. Ultrasounds, on the other hand, revealed that not everything was as it should have been.
When Tomm’s parents found out this, they were conflicted about whether or not they would continue to raise their son.
“We kind of talked this amongst ourselves, and we concluded what’s meant to be is meant to be and we went through with it,” Geoff Tennent, Tomm’s dad, said.
In spite of all the diagnostic procedures and checkups that were performed on Tomm on a regular basis, no one could have predicted how severe his illness would become. His parents freely stated that they were taken aback the very first time they laid eyes on their son.
Debbie Tennent, Tomm’s mother, was taken aback when her son was put on her chest in the delivery room. She stated, “My heart came up to my throat, but at the same time it was great to take him up and hold him.”
The kid who was born with wrinkles because of an overabundance of skin was a mystery to medical professionals. They were unable to determine what caused Tomm’s extra skin, and as a consequence, they did not have a therapy for him nor a cure for his condition. At first, all they could do was hold out hope that he would eventually mature into his appearance as he grew older.
However, since Tomm was so exceptional, researchers chose to devote both their time and resources to investigating his disease in the hope of shedding light on the mystery that surrounds it.
Tomm would wind up spending a total of two and a half months in a medical facility, being examined and tested during that time. In any case, scientists were confronted with a significant obstacle. There was no model to follow since Tomm was the only kid ever documented to have been born with such a large amount of skin.
Obviously, the Tennent family went through a really difficult period at this time. Nobody who has just given birth to a child wants to have to spend the first few months of their child’s life in the hospital. On the other hand, Geoff and Debbie felt new strength whenever they looked at their strong son. Tomm never stopped acting like a sweet and innocent child, and he was never aware of his situation.
The physicians never stopped trying to find a solution to Tomm’s medical issues throughout this period. They did all that was in their ability to find one. They continued their investigation and eventually came upon an unexpected discovery. The specialists saw visual similarities between the Tomm and a breed of dog that is popular in China called the Shar Pei. Because of this finding, they were able to find some solutions.
Researchers found that Tomm’s amount of Hyaluronic acid, which is normally present in skin, was one hundred times greater than average. This is the same effect that happens with Shar Pei pups.
Given that the amounts of hyaluronic acid decline for Shar Peis as they get older, which results in their having a more typical skin look, the physicians hoped and prayed that this would also be the case with Tomm. Thankfully, indeed, that was the case.
It was predicted by Tomm’s physician, Dr. Andrew Ramsden, that the disease would most likely fade away as Tomm became older. And he was totally right. Tomm overcame adversity throughout his childhood. Even though he was well-liked and well-known in his hometown, some folks could not resist making fun of him, particularly when he first began attending school. Some of the young kids refused to play with him.
However, Tomm did not allow himself to get disheartened by this, and as a result, it did not take him very long to make a large number of friends and become completely integrated into his school. Tomm’s appearance continued to be somewhat off during these years, but it was not quite as severe as it had been when he was first born.
29 years have passed since Tomm’s birth, which astounded the doctors. Following the broadcast of the documentary produced by 60 Minutes, an astounding number of viewers were curious as to how things turned out for the little child who had an excessive amount of skin. On the other hand, there has not been much of a follow-up with conventional media.
Even after looking at his social media accounts, we still don’t know too much about the life Tomm lives now. It would seem from his Facebook that he has tied the knot with the woman he has devoted his whole life to, Hannah. The pair seems to be quite content with each other and seems to make their home in Frankston, which is a suburb of Melbourne located in Victoria, Australia.
It must be amazing to see him now, with the same great smile that he had 20 years ago.
