Over the years, we at Newsner have covered many stories of special children who have survived despite everything. But few have touched the hearts of our readers like Tomm Tennent’s.
Tomm was born with just enough skin for a 5-year-old. He was so “wrinkled” that doctors said they had never seen anything like him.
“When he was born I was quite shocked… I didn’t think a human or a baby could look like that,” Geoff Tennent, Tomm’s father, told 60 Minutes Australia in 2003.
It’s been a great adventure for Tomm and his family since he was born. But looking at him now, in 2021, it’s hard not to be moved…
Despite all the tests and routine scans, no one could have imagined the severity of Tomm’s condition. His parents admitted they were shocked the first time they saw him.
His mother, Debbie Tennent, was shocked when they placed him on her chest in the delivery room.
“My heart sank, but at the same time it was so beautiful to pick him up and cuddle him,” she said.
But Tomm was so unique that researchers decided to invest time and money into studying him. They aimed to solve the mystery surrounding his condition.
Tomm spent a total of two and a half months in a medical center, undergoing tests and analysis. Needless to say, the scientists faced a huge challenge. Since Tomm was the only recorded case of a baby born with so much skin, there were no previous cases to refer to.
Of course, it was a very tiring time for the Tennent family. No parent with a new baby wants to spend more time than expected in the hospital with all that that entails. However, Geoff and Debbie found energy every time they looked at their son. Tomm was always a loving child, totally unaware of his condition.
During this time, doctors continued to do everything in their power to find a solution to Tomm’s problem. After digging deeper, they finally found something unexpected. Experts noticed a similarity between Tomm’s appearance and that of the Chinese Shar Pei dog breed. This discovery led to some answers.
Researchers found that Tomm’s levels of hyaluronic acid, which is found in the skin, were 100 times higher than normal. The same thing happens in Shar Pei puppies.
Since Shar Peis have lower levels of hyaluronic acid as they grow, making them look more normal, doctors hoped that would be the case for Tomm as well.
According to his doctor, Andrew Ramsden, Tomm’s condition would probably go away as he grew up. And it did.
Growing up, Tomm faced some challenges. He was well-liked and famous in his hometown, but there were also some people who made fun of him, especially when he started school. Some kids didn’t want to play with him.
But he didn’t let that get him down. In fact, he quickly made friends and fit in very well at his school. He still looked a little different during those years, but things had improved since he was born.
In 2003, he was asked if he was worried about how his friends looked at him. Tomm said, “I wouldn’t say… because they’re my friends and they don’t care what I look like.”
He also told 60 Minutes Australia that when he looked in the mirror, he saw “a good, loving person.”
He continued, “Sometimes people say I’m handsome, sometimes I’m very handsome, and sometimes they don’t say anything.”
Of course, his parents have always been very proud of their special son.
“He’s a good boy, he’s achieved, he’s doing well in school and he’s good at everything,” his father said.
His parents said they knew from the moment he was born that they would never hide it. They believe, and rightly so, that beauty is internal and goes deeper than just skin deep.
Even social media reveals little about Tomm’s life today. We know from his Facebook that he married his great love, Hannah. They are happy and apparently live in Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
“Life is simple. You make choices and you don’t look back,” Tomm wrote on his Facebook profile, and that probably sums up his outlook on life.
