ROUND HILL, Virginia — In the next few days, you can make a huge difference for nine-year-old twins fighting a rare, deadly and so-far incurable disease.
All Joshua and Jacob Fernando want for their birthday on May 29 is a bike they can actually ride.
Their big brother is trying to make that happen.
"They always see us riding our bikes and they feel left out," Levi Fernando, 14, said. "I feel bad for them because they're just sitting there watching me and Luke riding our bikes. They can't go outside, kick a soccer ball around, play catch, anything like that. But they love Nerf wars."
The twins have a rare and fatal genetic disorder called Ataxia-telangiectasia or A-T. It's attacking their nerves and immune system, leaving them wobbly and prone to infections and cancer.
"That was devastating," their mother, Jen Fernando, said about their diagnosis. "Because A-T is a death sentence. It's a death sentence for all these kids. It's just a matter of time."
But still their mother dreams of a cure. She wants to see them go to college, get married and have children.
For now, the family is trying to fulfill a smaller dream: An adaptive bike, or bikes, so the twins can ride with their two brothers. But the bikes can cost thousands of dollars.
Levi has set up a GoFundMe. Any extra money will go to the A-T Children's Project.
Levi said the twins have very different personalities.
"Jacob, he loves to pull pranks," he said. "But with Joshua ... he's really sweet. He loves to cuddle and hold hands."
When WUSA9 first met Josh and Jacob three years ago, they could still move around a little on their own. Now they really need a hand.
But what's it going to be like the first day they get that bike and climb on?
"Honestly, they'll be happy," Levi said. "But me and my mom will be ecstatic, watching them go around by themselves on their bikes."
Levi is also holding out hope for a cure. He said he prayed about it, and felt a kind of "comfort" that convinced him.
"I think they'll be healed," he said. "I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon."
And when they are cured?
"We're going to party every night," Levi said. "We're going to go everywhere. We're going to tour the world together."