Interview With Debbie Vigliotti: Nico's Story of Strength:

Nico was diagnosed with Chromosome 14 Deletion Disorder at the very early age of 18 months, by his endocrinologist, Dr. Cervantes, as a most probable explanation for his increasingly negative medical circumstances.

She had fortunately read an article in the "New England Journal of Medicine" about a young female with very similar symptoms.

Nico was then genetically tested, with the outcome being, he was in fact, the second child in the whole world diagnosed with this exceeding rare chromosomal disorder.

It is a brutal monster of a disease, and had already tragically claimed the lives of two young males at the age of 20 and 24.

Doctors have followed and journaled Nico's medical condition for years and still do so today.

They've named the deviance, the NKX21 Gene, which is further defined as a TTF1-Deletion or Thyroid Transcript Factor Deletion.

This cruel genetic anomaly can lead directly to thyroid cancer. It also affects our breathing enzymes called surfactants..

Nico has certain proteins that are missing, which if present would normally manufacture those very same surfactants, that we all need to survive.