Taking newborn photos of their children and sharing them with others is something that many people enjoy doing. This also applied to Patricia Williams. She photographed her albino kid with love, but she was greeted with a terrible surprise when she tried to share his photos with others.
Redd, Patricia’s son, was born in 2012. Although the boy had white hair at birth, his mother didn’t start notice a number of different aspects of him until he was two months old.
When her husband Dale tried to find out why the baby’s eyes were moving from side to side on Google, he discovered the startling truth: it was a typical sign of albinism. Patricia was dubious because she had never heard of the term before, but the young child possessed all the symptoms of albinism, including white hair, pale skin, and tracking eyes.
In order to assist with a formal diagnosis, the couple subsequently met with genetic specialists and an optometrist. Officially, Redd was diagnosed with Oculocutaneous Albinism Type One (OCA1), a disorder that affects 1 in 17,000 persons worldwide.
Patricia remembered how excited the hospital personnel was when Redd was born; they all wanted to see the baby with the blue eyes and white hair. However, Patricia didn’t bat an eye at the moment because she, her husband, and her firstborn son, Gage, all had blonde hair.
A month after they brought Redd home, she remembered noticing that his hair was so white that it would sparkle in the son’s eyes. She attempted to block his eyes, but he was unable to stop them from tracking. Additionally, his eyes were so blue that, under some lighting conditions, they would gleam crimson.
Patricia was certain that her kid would outgrow these characteristics, but she didn’t understand they were a lifetime issue until her second son was born with the same condition.
Rockwell was born in February 2018 with the same problem as his older sibling. Social media users took the newborn boy’s photos and used them to create hateful memes.
Redd had also been the target of bullying at school, where kids teased him for his unusual appearance. As a result, his older brother Gage started to defend him. However, the family was well-prepared for Rockwell’s birth because they already knew a lot about albinism. However, they were unprepared for their little boy’s photos to become a meme.
Dale and Patricia initially asked everyone who shared the picture to remove it, but they quickly understood that this was not feasible, so they chose to disregard the entire situation.
In order to prevent bullying of children with the illness because they are different, they made the decision to become champions for increasing awareness of the condition. Patricia became very unhappy as experts confirmed Redd’s albinism.
She was concerned about how their family dynamics would change with a child who burns easily and may become legally blind, as well as how the child would be treated in life for being different.
She clarified why so many people were interested in Rockwell. “Seeing a baby with white hair is very uncommon, and Rockwell’s hair stands straight up, so it’s very noticeable,” she said.
She earned a lot of fans after pictures of her son went popular as a meme. She soon realized that people were unaware of albinism when they began asking her why her son looked the way he did.
She came to the realization that the majority of people’s knowledge on albinism came from unpopular films. She therefore believed she had a special chance to raise awareness of albinism.
Redd transferred from a private school for blind children to a public one after undergoing eye surgery to address his strabismus. Redd greatly benefited from the surgery, thus the family made a wise choice.
Instead of having Redd wear an eye patch, which would have further made the youngster stand out and drawn unwelcome attention, they decided to have the surgery. Redd’s pals became less and less aware of his “differences” as he grew older.
They just knew that Redd could do anything a kid could do outside, save for the fact that he needed a hat, dark shades, and sunscreen. His younger brother Rockwell also thrived, much like Redd.
When Patricia posted a video of Rockwell from his school’s “Western Day” on April 28, 2023, the young child received a ton of love and gratitude on social media. The young youngster was described as “cute” and “adorable.”
Patricia clarified the widespread misperception that individuals with albinism have red eyes. She claimed that because their eyes lack pigment, they typically have light blue eyes.
Now, the lads are doing well and enjoying life to the fullest!
We are ecstatic for this amazing family. Please tell your Facebook friends about this amazing tale. It will undoubtedly be appreciated by everybody!
