Jackson Silver is 7 years old and has epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease that causes painful, graphic blisters all over his body. Even with the most delicate touch, his skin can tear apart and come off his body.
Because of that, Jackson has always stayed away from talking about EB with new friends. It’s been difficult for him to open up about his illness, until this year: His parents — Jamie and Alex Silver, founders of the nonprofit EB Research Partnership — helped him find his first friend who’s going through the same thing.
That friend is a boy named Liam from Glasgow, Scotland, who is also 7 years old. In fact, the two boys were born just three days apart! The pen pals have been exchanging letters after their parents connected via an EB support group on Facebook.
His mom Jamie says this is the first time her son has expressed interest in meeting other kids with EB.
“He is starting to become much more cognizant of how EB makes him feel different than his family and his peers and is looking for other kids with EB to connect with,” Silver wrote on Facebook on July 8. She added that he had a very specific request for his potential new friends: They must be 7 or 8 years old and “a love of dinosaurs would be a huge bonus!”
Silver’s post brought in countless direct messages and dozens of public ones, and eventually, Jackson chose to write a letter to Liam. He got his first response on July 24!
Read more about their rare friendship at the source here.
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