O’Fallon man with rare disorder captures millions of hearts when he meets Santa

The happy exuberance seen on a viral video from an O’Fallon, Illinois, family is typical of Andy, his mother says.

Jennifer Pallone is a little overwhelmed at the attention to the cellphone video she took of her son, Andrew, meeting Santa last Saturday at Frieze Harley-Davidson in O’Fallon.

“Whose video gets a million views? That’s insane,” she said.

She was just glad Santa was a big guy.

“I was a little worried Andy was going to plow him over. Santa’s like 6’6”,” she said Friday morning.

Pallone was also worried that Andy would accidentally push a motorcycle “and all those motorcycles would just domino,” she said.

Andy, 24, has a chromosomal abnormality called 15Q24, resulting in developmental delays, some mild orthopedic problems, a hole in his heart and low muscle tone, his mother says. He was the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with the disorder; he is the oldest in the world with it.

He lives with Community Link in Germantown, where he helps deliver Meals on Wheels.

“He loves the grandmas and the grandpas (at Meals on Wheels). My biggest fear is that he’s going to hug them too hard,” Pallone said.

Pallone has been approached already by companies interested in licensing her video and promising to share the money received. She’s declined them.

“Andy is going to be a one-hit wonder,” she laughed. “This is just a nice video. I’m just sharing this video of my son.”

The exuberant young man seen on the video very much reflects who her son is, she says, with exitement for Santa Claus and motorcycles.

“Most of the time (he is that exuberant). When he hugs me it’s not quite like that. I don’t get the running start,” she said.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 9:49 AM with the headline "O’Fallon man with rare disorder captures millions of hearts when he meets Santa."