Brittle bone disease is also known as osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI. Cabacungan was admitted to one of the Shriners hospitals with the disease as a child. At age 12, he appeared in a commercial for the hospital network that touched many and helped raise funds through public donations.

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace described Cabacungan as “the face of Shriners.” Speaking to the broadcaster on March 14, Cabacungan said: “All of a sudden, people were coming up to me, I’m like 12 at the time, I was panicking, I was like ‘who are all these people, how do they know me?’”

He said that, due to his disease, he has broken over 60 bones in his lifetime whilst living with the condition. But he added: “I figure out ways I can live my life very happily…I’ll never be down for more than ten seconds.”

A sports fan, Cabacungan plays wheelchair basketball, interviews athletes and has appeared on sports shows such as TNT. He is also a college freshman, studying journalism.

The Shriners hospital network is run by the Shriners International masonic society.

OI is a genetic disorder that leads to weak bones, meaning they can break easily. Symptoms can range from mild to severe; some people with OI may only break a few bones over their lifetime, while others may break hundreds.

It is rare, occurring in roughly 1 in every 15,000 people born, according to the Brittle Bone Society. Anyone can be born with OI, but it is more likely to occur in people who have family members who also have the condition.

In most people OI is caused by a change in the genes that are responsible for making type I collagen in the body. Type I collagen helps with bone formation and strength.

Such changes or defects can lead to a lack of type I collagen being produced, or type I collagen being formed improperly. This can lead to bones that break more easily.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) lists eight different types of OI that are most often diagnosed. They vary in terms of symptom severity. In type I OI, there tends to be mild or no bone deformity and no or slight changes to stature, though bones can break from mild to moderate trauma. Others, such as type III, are more severe and lead to small stature, loose joints, and easily broken bones.

Although there is no cure for OI, treatment such as physical therapy, bone-strengthening medicine, and surgery are available as well as aids that can help people with the condition to move around safely.