Father shares wisdom learnt from teenage son with spinal muscular atrophy

Lim says his son Branden who has SMA, possesses an EQ way beyond his 13 years. Photos: Edmund Lim

He has an emotional maturity beyond his 13 years and his eyes always spark with joy whenever he talks about something that interests or excites him, says Edmund Lim, 50, of his younger son Branden.

This might not seem an unusual perception for a proud father to have of his son, but Branden is no ordinary child. When he was about a year old, he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disease affecting the central and peripheral nervous system and voluntary muscle movement (skeletal muscle).