Brooke Greenberg, pictured here, is 16 months… er… make that 16 years old.

Brooke doesn’t age. At least most of her doesn’t. (Parts of her body seem to age independently.)

She also seems to have an amazing ability to heal.

In her first six years, Brooke went through a series of medical emergencies from which she recovered, often without explanation. She survived surgery for seven perforated stomach ulcers. She suffered a brain seizure followed by what was diagnosed as a stroke that weeks later left no apparent damage.

At 4, she fell into a lethargy that caused her to sleep for 14 days. Then, doctors diagnosed a brain tumor, and the Greenbergs bought a casket for her.

“We were preparing for our child to die,” Howard Greenberg said. “We were saying goodbye. And, then, we got a call that there was some change; that Brooke had opened her eyes and she was fine. There was no tumor. She overcomes every obstacle that is thrown her way.”

No one knows why she is like this. She has no known illness or disease.

Scientists think she may hold the key to understanding how we age.

In the meantime, Brooke just hangs out with her mom and her sisters (aged 22, 19, and 13 – all normal) at the mall.

One particular part of the story that I just can’t let go by without comment, though:

Brooke goes to a Baltimore County public school, Ridge Ruxton, dedicated to special education. Based on her age, she would be a junior in high school. Jewel Adiele, one of Brooke’s teachers, said she wonders sometimes what Brooke is thinking or perceiving.

Huh? School? For all intents and purposes she is an infant. It’s a public school… we’re paying for it. How does this make sense?

I know it’s not politically popular to say this, but this is another extreme example of how our school system needs reforming.