Peter Hoffman is our gregarious, high-energy, and fun-loving 8-year-old son / brother. He is passionate about friends, pets, mini golf, monster trucks, super heroes, video games, holidays, and birthday parties. Peter loves life and wakes up every day with indescribable enthusiasm to live it to the fullest. If you've ever spent any amount of time in Peter's presence, you won't forget him :).
But beneath Peter's cheerful exuberance, he is battling the rare, life-limiting genetic condition Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II), also called Hunter syndrome. MPS affects every part of Peter's body, particularly his heart, airway, muscles/joints, and (most severely) his brain. The progressive and degenerative nature of this disease makes it hard for Peter to learn and maintain skills, in addition to impacting his behavior, attention, and social skills as he grows. MPS is slowly degrading Peter's quality of life, stealing all the joy that makes Peter who he is, and ultimately will take his life before he has an opportunity to reach adulthood. Peter received this devastating diagnosis at age 1.5 years old, and since then has bravely faced more medical treatments and adversity than many will face in their lifetimes. He is a bone marrow transplant survivor (7 year anniversary this month!), and he now rallies through weekly half-day IV infusions of an investigational medication designed to slow MPS' progressive damage to his body and brain. These treatments, in addition to multiple hours of medical and therapy appointments weekly, mean that Peter's health and what he is capable of are way beyond what we ever dreamed possible when we first received his diagnosis of Hunter syndrome / MPS. However, there is still much work to be done! We have no cures for MPS, and no new treatments approved for Hunter syndrome / MPS in 20 years despite several promising brain-target therapies in development over the last decade.
Each spring since Peter's diagnosis in 2019, we have rallied a team of friends, family, and Peter fans to join us in celebrating Peter's courage and strength as part of the National MPS Society's Race for a Cure in Napa. We gather to raise awareness and money for this organization that provides support for families, leads rare disease advocacy efforts, and funds key research aimed at finding treatments and (hopefully someday) a cure for Hunter syndrome and related MPS conditions. In the last couple of years we have been honored to have over one hunrdred "TEAM PETER" supporters running and walking with us in Napa, along with dozens more across the country supporting "TEAM PETER" from afar. In 2025, together we proudly raised over $15k for the National MPS Society as the largest & highest fundraising team at the event.
Please join us on April 26, 2026 to make it Team Peter's biggest and best year ever! Your participation or contribution helps to fuel the breakthroughs and care that families with MPS like ours rely on -- advancing research toward a cure, strengthening the voices of rare disease advocates, and ensuring that every affected individual and family receives the direct support that we need to continue battling MPS everyday.
We are so grateful for all of the love and support!
Love from "TEAM PETER" Headquarters,
Katey, Andrew, Maddie, Kennerly, and PETER
