Leah Messer’s Disabled Daughter Ali Defies The Odds, Plays Softball Amid Muscular Dystrophy Struggles
Leah Messer’s seven-year-old daughter, Ali Simms, was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy years ago, but despite that, she’s remained mobile and recently began playing softball.
Although doctors informed Leah Messer and her first husband, Corey Simms, that their daughter would likely need to use a wheelchair full-time in the coming years, she’s doing great at the moment and continues to shock fans with her physical progress.
“This pic is for those of you who prayed that Ali would walk. She played t-ball last season and softball this season. #prayerworks #aligrace #determination,” Ali’s grandfather, Jeff Simms, wrote on his Instagram page days ago, according to a report by In Touch Weekly magazine on May 23.
As the outlet revealed, the Joshua Frase Foundation described Ali’s condition, revealing the young girl suffered from “a muscle disorder where muscle cells break down” and cause the muscles to weaken over time.
One month ago, Leah Messer, who was married to Ali’s father for just months before calling it quits in 2011, shared a photo of Ali and her twin sister, Aleeah, playing softball together and admitted that the moment was quite emotional due to Ali’s physical struggles.
“It was a moment I had to capture!” she wrote in the caption of the photo. “Ali girl on second base and Aleeah on first. Watching them play softball together is so bittersweet!”
During a February episode of Teen Mom 2 Season 7B, Leah Messer opened up about her own struggles with her daughter’s diagnosis.
“No matter what, I may never see the decline that they see,” she said of the doctor’s concerns. “I guess I’ll handle that when it comes you know? It made it hard at 17, knowing something’s wrong with this baby that you love so f***ing much.”
During an earlier episode, Simms admitted that he might never accept what doctors have told him about his daughter and her future physical limitations.
“I don’t think I’ll ever accept it, honestly. I don’t think I will,” Simms said, via Us Weekly. “Even if it’s the doctor saying it and she’s wheelchair-bound when she’s 14, I still won’t…I don’t want to accept it, and I probably won’t.”
Leah Messer and Corey Simms welcomed twins Ali and Aleeah while filming their episode of the second season of 16 & Pregnant and continued to document their story on Teen Mom 2 for the past several years.
Following Leah Messer’s 2011 divorce from Corey Simms, she moved on with Jeremy Calvert, who she wed in April 2012, and Simms moved on with Miranda Patterson, who he married in June 2013. However, while Simms remains married and shares a young daughter with Patterson, Messer endured a second divorce in 2015 after welcoming daughter Adalynn, now 4, with Calvert in 2013.
Leah Messer first confirmed her daughter’s struggles with muscular dystrophy in January 2014. At the time, the reality star and mother of three opened up to In Touch Weekly magazine about the diagnosis.
“We were scared because we didn’t know what her future was going to look like, but we always pushed for answers,” Leah Messer explained.
“The disorder affects her respiratory system and progresses the older she gets. The bigger she gets and the more weight she gains, the harder it’ll be for her muscles to carry the weight.”
Leah Messer and her family, including Corey Simms and their daughters, are currently in the midst of filming the eighth season of Teen Mom 2. The series will likely return to MTV sometime later this year.
[Featured Image by MTV]
