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Despite rare disease, blind 3-year-old girl is 'sunshine' in class

At Pine Log Elementary School in Bartow County, Brooklyn Grace Hunt is an example of what is possible.

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — Brooklyn Grace Hunt navigates a playground with the enthusiasm of any 3-year-old. She is sunshine.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she sings with a smile. 

Brooklyn has a big personality and sweet disposition.

At Pine Log Elementary School in Bartow County, she is an example of what is possible. She is part of the school's pre-k program and Center for the Visually Impaired. 

At 7-weeks-old she was diagnosed with a rare congenital condition called septo-optic dysplasia, "and it was life changing for all of us,” her mother Lexie Hunt said.

She said Brooklyn is totally blind, and her pituitary gland didn’t develop because of the disease.

While Brooklyn may not see the world around her, she embraces every bit of it.

"She's the sunshine of our classroom," her teacher Donya Pettit said. "Our kids love her, the adults love her." 

Pettit said even though Brooklyn has a disability, she can work through it and be just as capable as anybody else in the school system.

RELATED: Blind teen swimmer hopes to make Paralympic team in 2020

Her mom says she shows her family that at home, too. Whether it's singing, playing the piano or twirling. She even has her own YouTube channel with a following of around 100 people. 

Her mom said Brooklyn will have lifelong endocrine issues, including diabetes insipidus, adrenal and growth hormone deficiencies and hypothyroidism.

Through it all, though, Brooklyn gives her daily medicine to herself and has never complained.

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