In the animated franchise “The Incredibles,” Dash is the second of three children to Bob and Helen Parr who possesses superhuman speed. To Michelle and Michael Daichman, of Towson, Dash was the perfect name for their son when they adopted him in July 2023.
“He is our little superhero baby,” Michelle said.
Dash, who has an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disorder with a terminal prognosis that initially invited projections of just several months to live, is less than two weeks away from celebrating his second birthday. And on Sunday, he will join Michelle as they participate in the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K.
The race is a much-anticipated opportunity for the Daichman family. Despite undergoing emergency surgery in December to repair a stress fracture in her left hip, Michelle will make her fifth appearance at the Baltimore Women’s Classic, and the event is a chance for Michelle and Michael to further exemplify the “Be Incredible” tattoos they bear on their left triceps and spread awareness of Dash’s undiagnosed affliction.
The family’s love and zest for life are impressive to those who know them well.
“I think I can speak for our entire friend group when I say that we sit in awe of them and their ability to still find joy in being parents,” said Jenny Bacon, who has known Michelle since 1991 and was a bridesmaid in their wedding in 2007. “They’re truly soaking up every single minute as much as they can, and they’re not letting this bring them down any more than it has to.”
The Daichman family’s expansion from two to three began on July 2, 2023, when a full-term baby of more than eight pounds was born in Orlando. Nineteen days later, Michelle, a 42-year-old stay-at-home mom and volunteer project team leader in charge of training for the American Cancer Society, and Michael, a 45-year-old nursing home administrator, received calls at 4:30 p.m. and learned that the birth mother had chosen them for adoption. By 6:30 p.m., they were driving south.
Shortly after adopting Dash, both parents noticed their son missed a few developmental milestones, but nothing that raised red flags. In January 2024, Dash contracted respiratory syncytial virus that placed him on a ventilator for two weeks at the University of Maryland’s pediatric intensive care unit.
After the ventilator was removed, Michelle and Michael noticed Dash’s developmental skills had regressed. An MRI revealed degeneration of Dash’s brain. Consultations and further testing at six of the country’s preeminent hospitals along the Eastern seaboard confirmed that Dash was battling a neurodegenerative disorder never seen before.
The effects have been swift and debilitating. Dash can’t walk, sit up on his own, or articulate his words. But the most devastating condition is a breath-holding episode ranging from 1 minute, 45 seconds to 4 minutes that occurs five to 13 times per day.
Tom Cieri, a Baltimore City firefighter who has known the Daichman family for about seven years through Charm City Run, described the bouts as “terrifying.” But he marveled at how composed Michelle and Michael are when Dash suffers an attack.
“They know exactly what they’re supposed to do,” he said. “They start counting and timing how long it’s going to last, and if it gets to a certain point, then they just move onto the next step. … God bless them because they are able to get through this, but I don’t know if other people would be able to do what they’re doing.”
The disorder’s mystifying nature frustrates medical professionals such as Dr. Lee Fireman, Dash’s pediatrician. Fireman, who teaches pediatrics at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine, said his biggest contribution at times is simply serving as a sounding board for Michelle and Michael.
“The focus that I’ve had with them is, it’s all about the quality of life when you have a diagnosis like this,” Fireman said. “When Dash is having these aspects, it’s important that they see his joy and can still have experiences that are enriching. It’s a different journey that they’re on compared to a typical family, but they’re approaching it with an amazing grace that I have not seen in another family.”
It is not uncommon for Michelle and Michael to place Dash atop a table in a restaurant or coffee shop to apply rescue breaths, and Dash recently went through a three-week period during which they had to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation twice per day. They calculated that they spent 77 nights in 2024 at the University of Maryland’s pediatric intensive care unit.
“We know that this is our daily life and that our day to day is doing these things, but I’m thankful that we still get to deal with them,” Michelle said. “I’m thankful that we’re going to do many things with him and we’re going to take him wherever we can whenever we can.”
Besides visiting Disney World (which they have done eight times with another planned for September), listening to music, and eating ice cream, Dash finds peace when he is pushed in a running stroller by Michelle. The mother-son duo has completed at least 10 races together, with the longest being a 10K.
“He probably won’t have a chance to be an athlete in the true typical sense,” Michelle said, noting that Dash is the youngest member of Athletes Serving Athletes, an organization dedicated to helping individuals with limited mobility take part in mainstream running events. “But this gives him the opportunity. He gets his own bib, he gets his own medal. We always joke that he always beats me because he’s ahead of me.”
Those moments of joy drive Michael and Michelle, who are fully aware of the limited amount of time they have with their son who is receiving hospice care.
“We know what the endgame is, and we know what the end result is going to be,” Michael said, his voice shaking with emotion. “But keeping him as happy as possible for as long as possible — whatever that looks like — that’s the goal.”
If medicine and science can’t determine the exact cause of Dash’s condition during his lifetime, Michelle and Michael hope his case can help others in the future.
“We know that there’s a very good chance that none of the testing they’ve done on Dash is going to help him. We’re unfortunately very realistic about that,” Michelle said. “But we know that another family is eventually going to deal with the same exact thing, and hopefully, the stuff that we know from him will translate to them five years from now.”
Michelle and Michael said they are open to adopting again, but that is a discussion for later.
“I think our answer has been, ‘Let’s get through this first,’” Michael said. “We want our focus to be on him.”
Michelle and Michael said they aren’t entirely comfortable being labeled as inspirational. But Bacon said their example is admired by many.
“I tell them all the time, ‘No matter what happens, you know that you have done everything for him and then some, and you’ve gone above and beyond in every single way as a parent, as an advocate,’ and I think that it’s really remarkable to watch,” she said.
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