Mihdi Joon Brock has defied the odds and reached his 15th birthday.He suffers from a life-threatening curvature of the spine. His parents were once told by doctors that he wouldn’t live to see double digits.The Bermudian teen has survived with assistance from traditional and Oriental medicines. His family will throw a small celebration on Thursday, complete with a little cake, at their home in California.Father Marvin Brock said he was “elated” to see his son reach another year.“I am amazed every day that he is able to keep going and fighting. What’s amazing for me with him is his zest for life.“He wants to live and he wants to participate in life and make a mark.”Though the cause of his illness is unknown, Mr Brock said Mihdi’s mother Claire Quinlan started experiencing contractions at the end of her first trimester and needed to be under complete bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy.Mihdi was six months old when he was diagnosed with a rare disorder called progressive kyphoscoliosis. It caused his backbone to be severely curved, in the shape of an S.While still a baby, Mihdi also needed to have doctors fix his aorta, an artery in his heart, which was completely blocked; surgeons also found that he had fluid on his brain.Although traditional Western medicine was an important tool in Mihdi’s treatment, Eastern techniques have also been instrumental in rebuilding his fragile body, Mr Brock said. The teenager stands at 4ft 9in and weighs only 68lbs.After years of research, having pursued numerous options, the family consulted a physician in Chinese medicine, Baolin Wu, in 2000.Dr Wu put Mihdi on a system of acupuncture, exercise-breathing techniques called qi gong and herbs to help straighten out his spine. Mr Brock said the treatments have greatly helped young Mihdi — allowing him to gain some weight and grow nearly four inches in height.“It’s not that the traditional medicine doesn’t work, it was just a move [or] a paradigm shift from sickness cure to sickness prevention,” said Mr Brock.“Many people are finding that drugs and surgery are full of side effects and can cause other conditions that reduce their quality of life, and which hasn’t in many cases fully addressed the conditions.”Mr Brock said the teenager’s medical costs total around $120,000 a year — part of which is funded through registered charity, the Mihdi Joon Fund.Established in 2000, the fund serves to educate the public and one day aims to help other needy people pay for alternative medicines.Mr Brock said he was devastated years ago to be told by doctors in the US his son might not live to see age ten.He said: “Harvard doctors and [Children’s Hospital Boston] said, ‘Make him comfortable. He won’t get to see double digits’.“So we took him to New Hampshire and I bought him a little red electric jeep and watched him drive around the backyard and I was basically wondering, ‘How long is he going to live?’ It was traumatising.“Anybody who is told their child is not going to live would [feel the same way]. We as parents have the expectation our children will outlive us and to hear your child doesn’t even see get to see teenage years is definitely painful.”These days Mihdi’s life is largely centred around his daily treatment and therapies, including use of a traction table four times a day to reduce back pain. His father said his diet also has to be managed as an alternative to taking blood-thinning medications.He also goes to school, but is currently operating at a grade four or five level.Mr Brock, 64, said it was a “huge challenge” figuring out how to fund treatments for the rest of Mihdi’s life.But he said he never lost hope that his son would continue to fight. “The way I function is to put one foot in front of the other and I knew he was in God’s hands.“I also knew that as a father I had to do everything humanly possible to do my best and give him an opportunity to survive. I know I have done everything I can do.”Mr Brock continued: “As a father, that is the most significant role I feel I play in this world today. I am so very grateful to people in Bermuda, and from all over such as Canada, who all contributed to his success.“I do not have the words to adequately thank them for this and I just hope through this medium they understand they have contributed to saving a child’s life.”Useful website: www.themihdijoonfund.org