Liam Hoesktra, age three, is a normal toddler in many ways. Even when he's picking up five-pound dumbells and swinging them around with ease, or snapping toys in half during temper tantrums, Liam seems unaware that his incredible strength makes him different. Liam has Myostatin-Related Muscle Hypertrophy, a rare genetic condition that causes above-average growth of the skeletal muscles without negative health effects or enlargement of the heart muscle.
Liam can do chin-ups and climb a rope to the ceiling of his gymnastics school with ease, runs like the wind, and eats a full meal almost every hour. He could do the "Iron Cross," a gymnastics move where a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross, at the age of five months. At nineteen months, he liked to show off by performing inverted situps while hanging upside-down. The super-powered toddler has almost no body fat and 40% more muscle mass than average children his age thanks to his condition, which was first identified in Belgian Blue cattle in the 1990s.
Perhaps most amazingly of all, Liam is thriving physically and emotionally. Given up for adoption at birth, he had multiple medical problems early in life. Liam was adopted by a loving family who immediately devoted themselves to his care and protection. His adoptive parents have turned down more than a dozen television stations which approached them about filming Liam.
"A lot of the TV stations wanted to do the 'World's Strongest Boy' type
of stories," mom Dana Hoekstra said. "They weren't interested in the
science behind his condition ... and I wasn't going to put him on some
kind of freak show."
The family has, however, allowed film crews interested in presenting a scientific perspective to spend time with Liam and his family. A National Geographic Channel documentary may be in the works, and the Discovery Channel visited the family briefly before declining to do a segment on Liam because his strength is not (yet) obvious until he participates in a physical activity.
Liam is believed to have inherited his gift from his biological father, who was said to possess unusual strength. Research on adults who share Liam's condition could lead to new
treatments for debilitating ailments, such as muscular dystrophy and
osteoporosis.
Someday, Liam's strength will become more evident. If he chooses to work out with weights as an adolescent, he'll build muscle so rapidly he'll "look like he's on steroids," says Dana. For now, Liam will focus on gymnastics lessons and growing up healthy and happy. "Once he figures out his strength, it should be quite amazing."
