AMARILLO, TEXAS -- It's one of medicines rarest conditions -- hypothalamic hamartoma, a tumor that sits near the control center of the brain.
16-year-old Gabriel Evins of Amarillo lived with it for most of his life. At eight months old, Gabriel was diagnosed with HH , which causes gelastic seizures in infants.
"A lot of times, people think it's just a fit of giggles, that they're really happy kids," said Gabriel's mother Rochelle Evins. "But you could see in Gabriel, he would laugh and then he'd cry afterwards."
Some of the symptoms Gabriel suffered from because of HH included short-term memory loss, affected body temperature, mood swings and cognitive difficulty.
"His cognitive skills went downhill rapidly, what he could do in math was just deteriorating," explained his mom. "Emotions are at an all time high, he would get very angry."
By the time he was nine years old, Gabriel had the IQ of a five-year-old and suffered from frequent, full-blown epileptic seizures.
"They just became all out epileptic seizures to where he would just stiffen up and fall," said Rochelle. "And these were the ones we went through every seizure medicine there was. They said it was going to be, at the best, confinement to a nursing home by the age of 20."
Thankfully, the Evin's lives were turned around when they were introduced to a new surgical procedure in 2005. A age nine, Gabriel went under the knife and doctors went in through the top of his brain and completely removed the tumor.
After losing his memory for a brief time, lots of therapy and being away from his home, Gabriel was able to come home a changed boy.
"It was like night and day," his mom said. "Last year he had perfect attendance, where he was always sick before. He received straight A's at his grade level that we put him in."
At 16 years old, Gabriel was off seizure medication and suffered no more seizures thanks to a procedure that removed the tumor that put the entire Evins' family's faith to the test.
"He inspires us all," said Rochelle. "Nothing's impossible and he'll tell you that."
"Sometimes you have to realize it's not always what we want, sometimes in God's plan it's different," said Gabriel. "But there is hope."
Now, Gabriel is on to the next big test in life -- his driver's license test.
