Tomm was born with a one-of-a-kind pathology that once made the world interested because his appearance at birth was so different.
In 1993, world medicine was stirred by a case of a newborn born with a strange skin condition of the whole body that had never been seen before.

It was Tomm Tennent, from South East Australia. The boy was born with more wrinkled skin than the old people, his body was full of folds, making his parents also panic when they saw him for the first time.

It is known that at that time, the amount of skin on Tomm’s body was equal to the amount of skin of a 5-year-old baby. Her limbs all became big, looking like they were swollen.

This was completely invisible in Tomm’s mother’s ultrasound results, which surprised her family. “When he was born, I was shocked. I don’t think a normal person or a small baby can look like that,” said Tomm’s father, Geoff Tennent.

For medical researchers, Tomm is a mystery. They can’t find the cause of this excess skin condition. Therefore, at that time, there was no treatment and there was no cure for me. The only glimmer of hope for the boy is that the condition will improve as he grows older over time.

It is also because it is the first case in the world, Tomm’s rare pathology is of great interest to the medical community. Shortly after his birth, little Tomm spent two and a half months in a medical center, undergoing intensive examinations and analysis.

Eventually, after digging deeper, they discovered something strange that came from the similarities between the boy and the Chinese breed of Shar Pei. Researchers have found that the level of Hyaluronic Acid in Tomm’s skin is 100 times higher than normal, similar to that of the Shar Pei dog.

Accordingly, the good news for their family is that the amount of Hyaluronic acid on the skin of Shar Peis dogs will decrease as they grow – helping them to have a normal skin again. All the doctors had hoped and prayed that that was exactly what would happen to Tomm’s case.

And miraculously, it’s true. Tomm’s condition has now improved, and the boy’s skin from old wrinkles has been “rejuvenated” over time. Although he is not lucky to have flat skin like ordinary people, it can be seen that many parts of the boy’s body have become less thick and wrinkled.

However, because of his different appearance, the boy had to grow up in many detractors and comments from those around him.

Tomm once shared that sometimes he felt sad because some of his friends didn’t want to play with him when he started school. Fortunately, Tomm now blends in with his friends and has a close group of friends.

When asked if he was worried about how his friends would see him, Tomm replied: “Not really. Because they’re my friends and they don’t really care what I look like.” Tomm says that when he looks at himself in the mirror, he sees “a nice person.” That’s right, even though he was born with a more special appearance than the people around him, Tomm still strongly overcame that difficult barrier to become a happy, sociable and kind boy than anyone.

Tomm’s parents are very proud of him. Tomm is a good boy, has a good academic record in school and can do everything almost independently.