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3-Year-Old Has Never Fallen Asleep

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A 3-year-old Florida boy with a rare condition has not slept in three years.

Rhett has never taken a nap or gone to sleep at night, forcing his parents to keep watch day and night."(My husband) has the day shift and I kind of have the afternoon shift," mother Shannon Lamb said. "We share the night shift because no one can sleep in the house when he is up anyway."Lamb said she is working extra to pay for Rhett's large medical bills. She also said her husband, David, has given up his job to care for their child."I would give anything for Rhett to be this normal little boy who plays and has a good time," Lamb said. "If it takes going to every single solitary doctor, I will do it."According to the May Clinic, chiari malformation is a rare abnormality where brain tissue protrudes in the spinal canal.Part of the skull is abnormally small and puts pressure on the brain.Rhett checked into a hospital for an experimental surgery Thursday.

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Famous quote from Samuel Butler, a witty fellow*

"Life is one long process of getting tired"

but this kid is way ahead of the game.

*"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg."

"They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?' "

"When you have told anyone you have left him a legacy, the only decent thing to do is die at once."

"The seven deadly sins: Want of money, bad health, bad temper, chastity, family ties, knowing that you know things, and believing in the Christian religion."

He had a lot to say.