estimated 20,000 children and adults in the United States suffer from the disease . Not only can RRP rob patients of their ability to speak normally , it can create serious breathing problems if left untreated . `` It can be rapidly fatal for somebody who completely blocks off their airway , '' Sobol said . `` Try to imagine breathing through a coffee stirrer . That 's what those children breathe like when they first come to our attention , '' Sobol described . Experts are n't sure exactly why some people contract the virus , but Sobol believes that `` it 's a combination of genetic factors and exposure either in utero or during early childhood . '' Joey 's symptoms surfaced during infancy . His mother , Melanie Finley , recalled that when Joey was a year old , he would strain his neck muscles every time he tried to talk . She took the child to several doctors before they finally met with Sobol , who diagnosed the condition . Finley was relieved to get some answers , but Joey 's medical journey was just beginning . Sobol reported that from the age of 4 ,
KENNESAW , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Singing `` Frosty the Snowman '' and `` Jingle Bells '' may not seem like a big deal to most third-graders , but for Joey Finley , 8 , doctors say it 's a miracle . Joey Finley , 8 , suffers from a rare condition that can prevent people from speaking normally . The blond , freckle-faced boy was unable to speak in a normal voice until about a year ago . `` I thought I would sound bad , '' he said . Joey suffers from a rare virus that can get into the cells of the voice box . `` He has a condition called recurrent papillomatosis , '' explained Dr. Steven Sobol , director of pediatric otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta , Georgia . `` It causes growths like warts that you would see in other parts of the body . '' Watch and hear Joey sing '' Sobol said lesions in RRP -LRB- for the condition 's full name , recurrent respiratory papillomatosis -RRB- are caused by the human papilloma virus , or HPV , the same condition that causes cervical cancer . An