Music is sometimes more powerful than we even realize on the daily. Music keeps little 6-year-old Ollie Carroll going, even though he understands his life will be short.
Ollie and his sister Amelia, 4, both suffer from Batten disease, reported Daily Mail. It is incurable, and they most likely won’t live beyond 12-years-old. To learn more about this rare, genetic disease, click here.
A video recently sweep social media and touched the hearts all over when Ollie was seen listening to Ed Sheeran’s new song, Perfect. He’s the ultimate Ed fan who loved to sing along to his songs, but due to the disease he sadly no longer can sing, talk or walk. During the video he sheds a single tear, and we can feel every twitch of emotion from his eyes. He knows. He leans on the music to give him comfort. It’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking– it’s everything and more.
Ollie was lucky enough to see his idol in concert in Manchester this last April. Not only that, but he was soothed back stage by Prince Harry, who he had originally met a couple years ago at the WellChild Awards. There Ollie was presented with the inspirational child award and met Harry for the first time. It was great for him to reconnect.
His mother didn’t expect such a grand reaction when she posted the video to social media. She had created the Facebook page “Ollie’s Army Battling Against Battens” and post it on there. Quickly it spread across all platforms and garnered 17,000 likes from friends and strangers alike. It was cool to see he could touch so many.
Ollie knows he has incredible support from family and friends, and even celebrities– but the emotional tolls still remain and music is his saving grace. While it’s very heartbreaking for the Carroll family to have two children suffering from this fatal disease, at least they have each other to rely on and experience it with. Often rare diseases leave patients feeling extremely isolated and alone, despite having the support of their family.
It’s devastating to hear about a child diagnosed with a rare condition, and even more heartbreaking when they themselves understand they will die too young. Yet, if this rare disease has taught us anything, there is always hope that a cure or treatment will be found. We wish the best for the Carrolls and everyone else diagnosed with Batten disease.
