'The happy syndrome': 13-year-old boy with unknown condition is the same size as a toddler

Hopeful for the future, Tandy says that Angus' condition doesn’t stop him living life

A teenage boy has been diagnosed with a condition which means he's the same size as an average toddler.

Angus Palmes, who weighs just 2st and 2lbs, bewildered doctors as they struggled to diagnose his condition at birth. Now, experts are calling his unique condition a ‘personal syndrome’ because he is the only person in the world with it.

Appearing on This Morning with his mum Tandy, 48, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, the mother-and-son spoke candidly about Angus’ diagnosis – which Tandy prefers to refer to as his ‘happy syndrome.’

“There's over a million children in the UK who all have disabilities and Angus is actually one of a kind, he's completely unique in every single way,” she said.

Hopeful for the future, Tandy says that Angus' condition doesn’t stop him living life

“There are actually a lot of children with what they call “personal syndromes”, who fight a lot of battles because people don't recognise them.

“'I just call it a personal syndrome - a happy syndrome - because he laughs so much.”

Although Angus didn’t receive his diagnosis until he was three weeks old, his mum says that she knew something wasn’t quite right during her pregnancy. When she was pregnant with Angus’ brother, he “kicked like a footballer”, but Angus was completely still.

Angus Palmes weighs just 2st and 2lbs - the size of an average toddler

Despite her concerns, doctors ensured Tandy that her baby was fine and it wasn’t until he was born that doctors performed tests and realised that he needed special care.

Defying doctors since he was born, Angus, who stands at just 3ft 1inch tall, communicates with his own version of sign language and is able to walk while holding someone’s hand.

“If he's happy, he sticks out his thumb and index finger and jiggles them simultaneously,” Tandy said.

While hopeful for the future, Tandy admits that Angus will never be able to live independently but says that doesn’t stop him living his life to the fullest.

“He's never going to be able to live an independent life so he's always going to be dependent on me but we just sort of work it out and get it along,” she explained.