Tori Roloff and Zach Roloff’s eldest son, Jackson, is recovering after his third leg surgery.
“Jackson has proved he’s [stronger] than titanium, let’s hope he’s not stronger than vanadium! Unbelievably proud of this kid,” Tori, 34, wrote via Instagram on Friday, August 8. “Jackson had his third leg surgery today, and he took it like a champ. I had zero doubts, but he has every right to complain and he doesn’t.”
She added, “Jackson teaches me so much every single day. His resilience and patience is unreal and watching him today do something he did not want to do with grace was so humbling. I am so proud to be his mom.”
The Little People, Big World couple, who got married in 2015, had not disclosed Jackson’s diagnosis. (In addition to their 8-year-old son, Zach and Tori also share daughter Lilah, 5, and son Josiah, 3.)
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“I don’t share about his legs often because people on the internet seem to all have medical degrees and know exactly what the diagnosis is,” Tori added on Friday. “In reality, I don’t trust people online. I trust his doctor who I think is very good at what he does and trust him to help us navigate this situation. Jackson is receiving the best care we know how to give him, and he’s taking it all in stride.”
Tori further noted that she and Zach, 35, were “so stinking proud” of their son.
Zach and all three of his children have achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. The TLC alums now try to teach Jackson, Lilah and Josiah about their physical differences.
“I was watching dwarf soccer — a bunch of dwarfs play in a game on YouTube — and [Jackson] goes, ‘Why are those players so short?” Zach exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2022, noting that Jackson doesn’t always realize his diagnosis. “And he was looking at some fans with the coaching staff. He’s like, ‘Those players are tall, you know?’ And I was like, ‘Well, those players have dwarfism. They’re like you and I.’”
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At the time, Zach further told Us that Jackson was “doing great” after his 2021 surgery to correct the bowing in his legs.
“Everything’s great,” Zach said, noting that doctors put screws in his son’s legs. “As he grows, the legs will straighten. “It’s not an overnight fix, if you will.”
Tori, for her part, stressed to Us that she doesn’t want their kids to see their dwarfism as their entire identity.
“It’s so normal to us,” Tori said. “We have so many resources and there’s a lot of parents out there who don’t have the same resources and … don’t have the same confidence in everything that Zach and I do.”
Both of Zach’s parents, exes Matt and Amy Roloff, also have achondroplasia.
