ST CHARLES, Mo. — For some, he's known as Nathan.
But for Keli Stone, she calls her son a miracle.
Nathan Laws has rare diseases including Mitochondrial dysfunction.
He also has Pierpont Syndrome. He's just the 20th person in the entire world to be diagnosed with it.
"Your mitochondria are your energy production of your cell. They are the powerhouse of your cell. They get you up, get you moving. The Pierpont Syndrome, which is a chromosome defect, causes the mitochondria to never have a chance. The rare disease has a 50% chance of surviving by the age of two," Stone said.
Stone says it's a miracle her son has even reached the age of 20.
The diseases have affected Nathan's whole body, but mostly his lung function.
With the addition of COVID-19 in the state, Nathan is even more at risk.
"We knew that without having T cells to fight the regular every day cold, we knew something like COVID-19 would potentially be fatal to him," Stone said.
COVID-19 still ended up affecting her St. Charles family though.
Her husband was in the hospital fighting for his life for three weeks recently.
"I almost lost my best friend and that's because we didn't have the vaccine soon enough," Stone said with emotion.
The entire family got the virus, except Nathan.
"He is a miracle. I have said it more than once in his life," she said.
That's why Stone wants to protect her son even more, hoping he can get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
With Missouri's latest announcement, Nathan falls in line to get the shot next.
On Thursday, the state activated the next phase involving emergency services, public works, public health and first responders.
Starting Monday, Phase 1B-Tier 2 goes into effect.
This includes high risk populations.
In St. Charles County, the head of the health department said the department just got a new batch of vaccines.
"We received about 2,000 of Pfizer vaccine earlier in the week. We had about 48,000 people sign up for our virtual queue," Demetrius Cianci Chapman said.
They're ready to distribute it to those waiting, including Nathan.
"I am overjoyed to know that I can save him," Stone added. "For him to be vaccinated means that my miracle will continue being a miracle for a long time."