Benjamin was diagnosed with Klinefelter disease at 25. After struggling emotionally for years, today he is on testosterone treatment and is happily married to a wonderful woman.
Benjamin was diagnosed with Klinefelter disease at 25 years of age, just one month after he moved to Switzerland to attend a master’s programme in International Hospitality Management.
The years before the diagnosis were full of confusion and misunderstanding. As a child, Benjamin was quite introvert, he had difficulty in learning the language, he complained of being very tired and did not have mental alertness like other people. Years later, he fell asleep in the shower after getting out of bed to attend college. Neither his family nor himself would understand why all this was happening.
Benjamin admits that the most traumatic time was in his early youth, when trying to get intimate with women, as he did not have any physical reaction during encounters. At some point he even questioned his sexual orientation. To him, it wouldn’t have mattered if he were gay, after all, but he still felt physical attraction to girls.
Emotionally, it was also very hard to explain to girls that he could not have children naturally. In addition to the physiological changes due to the use of testosterone, he became depressed, and even attempted suicide several times.
Klea was diagnosed at 5 weeks of age with Homocystinuria, a disorder affecting less than 200 people in the world.
Claire was diagnosed with PKU at birth. Three years later, Claire’s brother, Seth, was also diagnosed with the same condition.
Elise was three months old when she was diagnosed with two congenital diseases: Jacobsen Syndrome and Paris-Trousseau Syndrome.
Sophia was nine months when diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 1. SMA is a progressive condition that leads to loss of movement and muscle wasting.
Tom was four when he was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is caused by a defective gene for Dystrophin, a protein in the muscles. Due to the way the disorder is inherited, the condition primarily affects boys and rarely girls.
Dylan was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with MDP syndrome. Later on, in adolescence, he was also diagnosed with autism.
Areti is a 28-year-old young woman suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 2, a severe neurological disease that leads to gradual weakness and atrophy of the muscles, which destroys the patient’s motor skills.
Anastasia was in an artificial coma for 32 days, before she woke up. That made her the first greek woman with Cystic fibrosis who woke up from a coma and the first ever person who woke up after such a long coma, globally.
Suzie Birchwood is a dancer, choreographer and the artistic director of arc dance. Suzie has Dystonia and is a wheelchair user. She trained in ballet and contemporary.
Chloé Temtchine is an award-winning singer, songwriter and speaker, who was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension and Pulmonary Veno Occlusive Disease (PVOD)
Baby Fitz was born with a dysfunctioning immune system. His treatment offers hope for curing rare diseases.
Anestis and Dimitris were two brothers who had Klinefelter syndrome. As they were never diagnosed, they had to endure the prejudice of their neighbours in a small village, nearly 40 years ago.
