# @newsday on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DPeo5BgjlxM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/38517278-newsday-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/40d835578b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-06T19:00:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Newsday • Long Island News (@newsday) — https://gondola.cc/newsday

## Caption

Massapequa resident Kaitlin Norton said she returned home from her daughter’s six-month checkup feeling content.

According to her pediatrician, Madeline — a little girl with bright blue eyes and an infectious smile — was a healthy baby hitting all her milestones.

But later that same day, Norton said she received the kind of call every parent dreads: Madeline had tested positive for a rare genetic mutation.

Norton, 29, and her husband Gerard, 32, would later learn that the mutation, found in the PANK2 gene, meant their daughter had Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration, or PKAN, a rare disorder that affects one’s ability to walk and talk. For many, the life expectancy is 10 to 12 years.

Read more on how these parents are searching for a cure at the link in bio.

#longisland #longislandny #liny #longislandnewyork #nassaucountyny #nassaucounty #massapequa #massapequany #PKAN #geneticdisorder #PKANdisorder #raredisorder #disorder #genes #pediatrician #medical #doctor #condition #cure

## Stats

- **Views:** 10,240
- **Likes:** 430
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 10

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brendan Yerkes | @BrendanYerkes23 | https://gondola.cc/BrendanYerkes23 | Content Producer |
| Newsday • Long Island News | @newsday | https://gondola.cc/newsday | Reporter/Journalist |

## Tags

condition, raredisorder, longisland, medical, massapequa, longislandnewyork, massapequany, nassaucounty, geneticdisorder, longislandny, doctor, pkandisorder, liny, pkan, disorder, nassaucountyny, cure, genes, pediatrician

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