Family Stories
Family Story: The Muscari Family
Anyone who’s ever met 9-year-old Josh Muscari knows just how much he loves to have FUN. Whether he’s playing video games, involved in sports, talking about Star Wars or battling someone in a game of pool, Josh is all about making the most out of each day.
Josh was born with achondroplasia, which is the most common form of dwarfism and is caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation while the baby is developing. The Muscari family has experienced their share of challenges that accompany having the first “little man” in the family, but Josh’s condition has also pulled them closer together.
Josh and his parents, Michelle and Frank, first stayed at the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins in December 2009. Expecting surgery for a shunt to relieve fluid on Josh’s brain, they instead learned he would need his legs lengthened. Hundreds of miles from home in Las Vegas, Michelle and Frank faced a tough situation in an unfamiliar city without friends or family nearby for support.
Michelle works as a 911 Dispatch for the Las Vegas Fire Department, which came to the family’s rescue…literally! Acting as an extended family, the department provided a local familiar face by introducing the Muscaris to Michael Hineline of the Baltimore City Fire Department. Josh and Michael instantly bonded, and as the special events coordinator, Michael decided to make the family’s stay extra special with a visit from the local Baltimore City Fire Department. This visit sparked a relationship between the department and the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House, so a few times each year children are treated to an exciting visit from the firefighters.
The Muscaris have returned to Baltimore several more times for surgeries and follow up visits, but Josh doesn’t seem to mind. He loves visiting his buddy, Michael, and enjoys everything about the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House. In fact, the only way he would eat a popsicle after his leg surgery was the promise of immediately leaving the hospital and returning there!
Josh instantly puts a smile on the face of anyone who meets him, especially when he finds an opportunity to show off his back flips. Says mom Michelle, “Josh is just a character – we really do consider him a special gift from God! There are always some challenges, but we wouldn’t change one thing about him!”