Morgan McElhinney, 8, is a petite, good-natured little girl, who is popular at her elementary school and among her neighbors in Brunswick. The youngest of four children, Morgan brings great joy into the lives of her parents, Lisa and Brad McElhinney, but some sorrow, too. Morgan suffers from a very rare and debilitating genetic disorder called Cohen syndrome. The condition is characterized by a failure to thrive in infancy, developmental delays, severe vision abnormalities and neutropenia, which manifests as an abnormally low level of white blood cells. The condition is difficult to diagnose; some children go undiagnosed for several years. It took more than five years to get a diagnosis for Morgan's symptoms.

"In some ways, it was a relief," Lisa McElhinney said. "I thought I had caused this illness in some way, but now we know it's a genetic mutation and there was nothing we could have done during my pregnancy or her birth. We were actually luckier than most to get a diagnosis when Morgan was six years old. Many aren't accurately diagnosed until much older."