The 8-year-old Northern Minnesota boy is one of the first boys in the country to receive a certain type of gene therapy treatment.
Colton Berzzo was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was a baby.
This disease weakens muscles over time.
But he and his family now have good reasons to be optimistic.
“He’s an extroverted boy and he loves to play outside,” said Colton’s mom, Morgan Berzzo.
Colton Berzzo also loves to fish, ride horses and give his own weather report on camera.
wcco
However, when he was seven months old, Colton Berzzo was diagnosed. Duchenne muscular dystrophy – A rare condition affecting one in 5,000 children, mainly boys. Over time, the muscles weaken, and most people with DMD do not live past 30.
“When it first started, you didn’t even consider it a possibility,” said Dan Berzzo, Colton’s father.
Last year, Colton Berzzo reached a point where he struggled to get up. That’s when his family learned that Dr. Peter Karachunsky of M Health at M Health Fairview Mason Children’s Hospital had received a groundbreaking treatment he wanted to try.
“Yes, we’re optimistic, and that’s the first such treatment in his class,” Karachunsky said.
In December, doctors essentially put a copy of the dystrophin gene into the virus and injected it into Colton Berzzo’s body.
“This spreads and enters the muscle cells,” Karachunsky said.
The virus is not harmful, but the genes it carries are known to brake the progression of DMD.
The hope is that this treatment slows down Colton Berzzo’s illness and buys time to get other treatments in the future.
“We were terrifying. That’s scary,” Morgan Berzzo said. “They are essentially injecting your child with the virus.”
However, Colton Berzzo’s parents, Morgan and Dan, knew there weren’t many other options.
And so far, the results have been impressive. In three months they saw their son get stronger. He can go up and down the stairs himself. And if Colton Berzzo has his way, he will play baseball soon.
“His energy levels are high. He can do things. He’s playing more,” Dan Berzzo said.
“It’s amazing. It’s amazing that this can be achieved for a child,” Morgan Berzzo said.
Karachunski said there are more muscle disorder treatments in clinical trials that he believes can help Colton Berzzo in the future.
Editor’s Note: Previous versions of this article featured a headline that incorrectly described Colton Berzzo as the first American to receive treatment outlined in the article. This was revised to reflect that he received it first.
More about CBS News
John Laurissen
