Criticized as a baby for having white hair, but wait until you see him years later.
When Redd was born in 2012, Patricia and Dale Williams, his parents, were ecstatic. They were also aware that their little one was unique among babies they had seen. Redd was unbelievably cute, and his hair was as white as snow. That is, until he turned two months old, at which point they noticed that his eyes were continually shifting side to side.
They looked up the symptoms online out of concern that something might be up and were virtually positive that Redd had albinism.
To assist with an official diagnosis, they scheduled appointments with genetic specialists and optometrists first. Redd was diagnosed with Oculocutaneous Albinism Type 1 (OCA1), a disorder that affects 1 in 17,000 persons worldwide, and this was shortly confirmed.
The medical staff was ecstatic about Redd’s appearance upon birth, and everyone wanted to view the newborn with the white hair. Patricia thought Redd would outgrow this and that his hair would eventually get darker, but after learning that he had albinism, she realized that his blue eyes, which occasionally glowed red, and his white hair will always be a part of him.
Then, in 2018, Rockwell, Patricia and Dale’s kid, was born with the same illness as his older brother.
Regretfully, Redd and Rockwell went through difficult times in kindergarten and school because their classmates teased them about their appearance. Bullying has continued despite the strong protectiveness of their older brother Gage, who is not albino.
Patricia also tried her best to instill in her kids an acceptance of their appearance and an understanding of self-love, but something unsettled occurred. Patricia posted a picture of Rockwell on social media, and someone made a meme out of it. The parents requested that it be removed, but it had already been circulated widely online.
They made the decision to disregard the tragedy and not allow it to impact their life after realizing they were unable to stop it. Rather, they evolved into campaigners seeking to increase public knowledge about albinism. Patricia discovered there were many people out there who knew very little about albinism, and what they did know came from obscure movies with little representation, after she received a lot of questions about her sons after Rockwell’s photo went viral and she gained a lot of followers on social media.
As for Redd, he switched from a private to a public school for blind kids after having eye surgery to treat his strabismus. For the family, having the operation was a great choice because it greatly benefited Redd. They wanted to prevent Redd from drawing more attention, which would have decreased the bullying, therefore they went with surgery rather than eye patches for him.
Patricia posted a video of Rockwell from his school’s “Western Day” on April 28, 2023. Unlike the previous occasions when he was called names, the young child received a lot of love and gratitude on social media this time around.
Redd and Rockwell are doing really well these days.
Please use Facebook to SHARE this post with your loved ones.
