LIVING WITH HUNGER - COULD A RARE SYNDROME CALLED PRADER WILLEY UNLOCK THE KEY TO FIGHTING OBESITY?, ON "20/20," FRIDAY, APRIL 1 ON ABC
Also: Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli O'Donnell Speak Candidly to Barbara Walters
About their Relationship, Raising Kids and Their Cruise for Gay Families;
And: Deborah Roberts Reports on Teen Dating Violence
Imagine chain-locking the refrigerator or fencing in your home so that a loved one does not leave the premises to find food. That's what the Rivera family has to do to keep daughter Maribel from eating herself to death. Maribel, like 30,000 other Americans, lives with Prader Willey Syndrome, a rare disorder caused by a flaw in DNA that, among other things, profoundly affects hunger - creating a sense of never being satisfied. As ABC News correspondent John Donvan reports, Maribel's hunger is unimaginable, and so is the effect on those who love her. Footage that her sister Mercedes shot for a documentary shows Maribel acting uncontrollable when the ice cream truck drives by her fenced-in house, as well as footage of her begging strangers to buy her a hot dog while at a park. "She's always hungry and, you know, we always have to watch it, because wherever it [food] may be, even if it's in the trash, she'll get it," says Mercedes. The report airs on "20/20" FRIDAY, APRIL 1 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
The report also profiles another family struggling with Prader Willey: Jim and Kit Kane's grown daughter, Kate, now lives in a special home for adults with the syndrome and, although she has lost 100 pounds, she says the hunger is always there.
"We think we're going to get major clues by understanding Prader Willey Syndrome... that gives us a window of opportunity to go in and help to understand other causes of obesity and eventually figure out what's broken and then how to fix it," says Dr. Dan Driscoll, a specialist from the University of Florida on Prader Willey Syndrome.
Also: In their first in-depth sit-down interview together, Rosie O'Donnell and her partner, Kelli O'Donnell, talk candidly to Barbara Walters about their marriage being nullified, raising their four kids ("we have totally different parenting skills," says Rosie), whether their kids miss not having a father, and their cruise for gay families. Rosie also addresses her blog, which she once described as "the unedited ranting of a fat 42-year-old menopausal ex-talk show host, married mother of four." "My rage comes from the fact that humans can and must do better," O'Donnell tells Walters. "The blog comes from the point of trying to give back to people who have given me so much, to inspire people who maybe are depressed or fat or, you know, feel lost, or that they're stupid."
And: What would make a popular high school football star snap and kill his girlfriend? Why would a teenage girl cling to a boyfriend who is a physical and emotional threat? Marcus McTear, a star running back in Austin, Texas, brutally killed his girlfriend in a high school stairwell. To try and understand teen violence and dating, ABC News Correspondent Deborah Roberts talks to the girlfriend's mother and a previous girlfriend who alleges that McTear was violent with her as well.
"20/20" is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel. David Sloan is executive producer.
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