He struggled with a rare syndrome, but this young man’s joy taught others in MS to smile
Brent David Anderson II did not need words to communicate.
He told his family and his teachers what he wanted with his eyes, through the sounds he made, or by gestures. If he wanted a particular book read to him, his high school teacher said, he would fetch it and hand it over.
Anderson died Thursday morning at the age of 22, having far outlived doctors’ predictions that he would never make it out of the hospital after birth.
He is believed to be the first infant in Mississippi diagnosed with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a developmental disorder diagnosed by a doctor from Keesler Air Force Base who had studied in Germany, where the syndrome was discovered, his stepmother, Maureen Anderson, said.
His father, state Rep. Brent Anderson Jr. of Kiln in Hancock County, was too heartbroken Friday for an interview, but wrote a touching tribute on Facebook.
“Even though he has never uttered a word in his 22 years of life, he has touched so many lives,” Brent Anderson wrote. “Lil Brent fought struggles throughout his life that many of us could not have endured. No matter what struggles he encountered, Brent always had a smile.”
Rare syndrome doesn’t stop determined child
Baby Brent spent the first 13 weeks of his life in neonatal intensive care at Gulfport Memorial Hospital.
The rare syndrome causes malformed hands and feet, slow growth, intellectual disability, distinct facial features and physical ailments that include digestive problems.
Doctors did not think Brent would leave the hospital or walk. But he surprised them.
Brent was mischievous, funny and friendly. He loved people, his stepmother said.
“That kid, I told everybody he was a menace,” Maureen Anderson said. “He would contemplate a whole plan and then execute it. He was such a jokester.”
He loved to sit next to someone on the couch, put his leg under their thigh and pinch them with his toes. His parents also had to make extra keys for the house because he enjoyed locking them out.
Once, he got on a golf cart and crashed it into his stepmom’s car.
And then there was the time he tried to get away with stealing a Pop-Tart at school. He observed the cafeteria ladies, saw what time they left and snuck up to a rack after they were gone, snagging the snack.
His teacher at Bay High School, Liz Bosarge, saw the whole thing and caught it all on camera. In the last frame, he smiled when he realized he would not get in trouble.
He loved dressing up for Halloween, chocolate, bubble baths and back scratches, Maureen Anderson said.
Brent was the size of a 5-year-old, his stepmom said. Bosarge said he was like the school mascot because he was so small and all the students loved him, but she had to remind them that he was a teenager and they could not carry him around.
Brent had expressive dark brown eyes, thick black lashes and black hair.
“He couldn’t communicate with words, but he let you know,” Bosarge said. “He let you know if he was happy. He let you know if he was mad at you. He got us all in our hearts, big time.”
Teenager graduates from Bay High School
Brent graduated from high school in 2017. Bosarge coached him before the ceremony. When it came time to walk, he grabbed her hand and made her walk with him, but he stepped up alone to receive his certificate of completion.
The special education teacher said some moments with her profoundly disabled students stand out, and Brent’s graduation was one of them.
After graduation, Brent received full-time care, most recently living at the South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach.
The day before he fell ill, Brent was out with a caretaker, riding around on a golf cart to look at Halloween decorations. He had suffered from severe indigestion all his life and was on a special diet.
The next day, he had a severe aspiration episode and seizures. That was a couple of weeks ago. He never regained consciousness. His parents and three siblings finally had to let him go.
They are comforted to know Brent changed lives because people saw how happy he was and realized their problems were not so big.
“I am so grateful and honored to have had such a spirit in my life to teach all of our family — the ripple effect he had on all of us,” Maureen Anderson said. “I’m just grateful that his sacrifice and his struggles are over, but they were worth it.
“In heaven, he’ll get to watch all those blessings he left here on this earth.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 4:46 PM.
