Cardinals Impress Young Josiah Viera

It is an inspirational story sure to provide a smile to your face in these final days of spring training.

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten a visit from Josiah Viera, a 10-year old who suffers from a rare condition known as progeria. In a touching story written by MLB.com Cardinals reporter Jenifer Langosch, Viera is shown visiting the Cardinals camp and interacting with players.

If you see Viera on the field, you wouldn’t think he’s 10 years old. That’s because progeria is a condition where the body ages around 10 years for every year of life. At 10 years old, Viera has the body of a 100-year old senior citizen, and it leaves him taking cholesterol medicine and blood thinners.

The condition is heartbreaking, but it hasn’t gotten Viera’s spirits down and the Cardinals around him take spirit in what he has fought through.

He has interacted with players such as Michael Wacha and Matt Holliday. Viera spent a day with the Class A State College Spikes in central Pennsylvania.

Viera tires easily, and he realistically doesn’t have that long to live. But baseball has helped him be a kid again even though his body is no longer that of a child’s.

It is a touching read and sure to bring a couple tears to your eyes in this week before Opening Day.