When I wrote yesterday about Stephen Nedoroscik, the single-focus pommel horse guy at the 2024 Olympics, I didn’t say much about his eye condition.

...he has a condition called strabismus, which is defined by the Cleveland Clinic as a form of eye misalignment, but it’s more commonly known as being cross eyed. He’s revealed on TikTok that he suffers from light sensitivity, caused by a coloboma — an area of the eye that is missing tissue, per the Cleveland Clinic. – NBC Sports, August 3, 2024

When he takes off his glasses to do his pommel horse routine, he literally cannot see. He does everything by feel.

The condition makes it extremely difficult for children to become athletes, Dr. Christopher Gappy, an ophthalmologist at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, said. About 4% of children younger than 6 years old are diagnosed with strabismus, medical officials have said. Nedoroscik is a rare case, Gappy said. “Those athletes are like unicorns. They’re super rare,” Gappy said. – Stephen Nedoroscik, the Olympic ‘pommel horse guy,’ is a unicorn, University of Michigan doctor says, Michigan Live, August 6, 2024

That’s what makes the rest of the story special. Porter Fox, a 7-year-old, from Denver, Colorado, has coloboma also. He and his mother, Emily, were in Paris for the Olympics. Here’s the story as reported by NBC-affiliate KOBI.

Emily Fox was scrolling Facebook on her phone Tuesday morning in Paris. She was slowly waking up, preparing for a big day out with her family. She and her kids had traveled in from Colorado to attend some Olympic events and explore France. Emily’s social scroll stopped when she saw a post about a U.S. gymnast with coloboma, an exceedingly rare eye condition that severely impacts vision and the physical appearance of the pupil. 

In the case of her son, Porter, the pupil of his left eye is shaped like a keyhole, spilling into the ring of hazel green. He’s essentially blind in that eye, too.

The headline on Emily’s screen read: “Gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik is the Clark Kent of the 2024 Olympics.”

…Emily pulled up the routine on her phone for her son to watch. “I always like to share things with Porter that are inspirational and uplifting and just reassuring him, you know, he’s not different ­­in this world.”

The family headed out for a day of wandering. They hadn’t seen the Eiffel Tower yet, so that was first on their list. They noticed the TODAY Show crew in action and, before they knew it, Al Roker was ushering Emily’s family onto the set. Porter and his sister, Brinkley, hung out right between Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb for the final segment of Tuesday’s show.

The family had plans to watch Olympic water polo at Paris Aquatic Center, so it was almost time to go when an NBC intern mentioned that the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was right around the corner, making the media rounds after their first team medal in 16 years. Emily casually remarked that her son has the same eye condition as one of the gymnasts and, hey, isn’t that cool? The intern disappeared.

Minutes later, she reappeared with Stephen Nedoroscik. He walked right up to Porter and got down to his level to compare eyes. This was the first time either of them had met another person with their condition. “Porter said to me, ‘Mom, I really thought I was the only person with coloboma,’” Emily said. (Emphasis mine)

…Suddenly, the seven-year-old realized he wasn’t different. At least not next to his new friend, the Olympic hero.

They talked about Porter’s favorite sports – he’s into soccer and basketball these days – and they embraced for photos. Before Stephen was whisked away for his next appearance, he left Porter with one message. “Stephen told him, ‘Remember, you can do anything,’” Emily recalled. “‘Don’t ever let [coloboma] hold you back.’”

That message didn’t take long to sink in. By day’s end, Porter was listing off all the sports he would one day compete in on the world’s biggest stage. “He was saying, ‘Mom, I feel like I can go to the Olympics now,’” Emily said.

“’I want to be just like him.’”

I cry as I read this. Why? Not only is it a heart-warming story of an Olympian’s willingness to relate to a 7-year-old, it’s the story of the gracious God, working behind the scenes, who brought them together. An “everyday” miracle, I think.

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. (2 Corinthians 1.3, 4, MSG)