Your Vote Could Help Save North Texas Boy's Life

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Reed Zeighami, who is just 3 years old, really needs some friends to lean on right now. He was diagnosed with a rare and fatal genetic disorder called MPS III Sanfilippo Syndrome. He is expected to grow somewhat normally, but then regress to the point where he can no longer walk, talk or eat.

"With Sanfilippo, we absolutely know the cause," said Roy Zeighami, the boy's father. "It's a missing enzyme."

There is no cure. There is no treatment.

At least, not yet.

"We can change that," said Zezee Zeighami, the boy's mother. "We're going to change it, and we need people to help us." The Zeighami family hopes to raise money for research and a cure, with the simple click of a mouse.

Vivint is an automated machine systems company whose 'Gives Back Project' is offering $250,000 for the charity who gets the most votes. Right now, Team Sanfilippo Foundation is in second place. You are able to vote once per day until August 27th.

"Please, vote for my brother. He needs your help," said Aziza Zeighami, the boy's sister.

>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE <<

Even if they do win in the voting, what makes the Zeighami family so confident that a cure can be found?

Ryan Dant.

Dant is 23 years old, but he was not suppose to live past the age of 10. "I've been able to graduate high school, get my driver's license, play high school baseball and football," he said.

Dant was also 3 years old when he was diagnosed with a similar ailment. But his parents raised enough money to develop the enzyme that their son needs to live. "Science is often not fast enough for the parent," said Carrollton father Mark Dant. "It wasn't fast enough for us, but it was there, and it came through, and there was a difference."

"There can be a difference for Roy," Mark Dant added.

Because of what Mark did, all the kids with his disease have a treatment," Roy said. "We want to do the same thing." They just need some friends to help out.