Doctors said SFV man wouldn't live to 5 years old, now beating the odds at 30

SAN FERNANDO, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Gerardo De La Cerda, 30, was born with a high amount of ammonia in his blood and a seizure disorder. At 4-months-old his parents were told that he wouldn't make it to his fifth birthday.

Now, De La Cerda is leading the torch run for the 2019 Southern California Special Olympics.

"I'm very proud that my parents have supported me throughout the years that I've been playing for Special Olympics," said De La Cerda. "I play basketball, bochi, bowling, soccer and softball."

Luckily for De La Cerda, his brain damage from the ammonia in his blood hasn't gotten worse and his seizures rarely happen now.

But in the beginning his family was worried, and he did have a seizure at a Special Olympics event after joining at 12-years-old.

His family doesn't want that to stop other families from letting their children with special needs participate in Special Olympics.

"We feel that we're really the only people that understand our kids, and that's so not true. Special Olympics that's what they do, I mean they understand our kids sometimes better than we do," said Terri De La Cerda, Gerardo's mother.

Gerardo has won 75 medals since he first joined, and will be participating in the Summer Games on June 8, 2019 at California State University Long Beach.