OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. -- An Ottawa County community has come together to help one of their own get stronger.

Tim Bosch of Zeeland has struggled with a rare disease all of his life, but now a new pool could help him overcome it all.

“He had twelve fractures at birth,” said Deb Bosch, Tim's mother.

But despite his brittle bones, Tim has an extraordinary inner strength, and break after break, Deb and Kevin Bosch's youngest son fought on.

“Literally said you can try to keep him together for a year,” said Deb.

Tim is now a teenager, one with one of the most severe cases of brittle bone disease.

“I've broken over 400 bones and had 40 or 50 surgeries,” said Tim. “I deal with it. Sometimes I hide that I have a break. I won't tell anybody because I don't want to ruin the situation.”

Tim's condition doesn't mean he sits activities out, instead the teen finds other ways to participate, but there are still a lot of limits.

Now, however, Tim has a place where boundaries are washed away. Through a series of fund raisers, Tim's friends raised more than $40,000 to have an underwater gym installed at the Bosch family home in Zeeland. In the pool, Tim can work out, or just have fun, nearly risk free.

“Even though he has struggles in life, his attitude is unbelievable,” said Lindsey Miles, who helped with the fund raiser.

Lindsey Miles was one of those who helped collect the money. An event at a local ice cream shop brought in $15,000.

"The line was down the road, it was absolutely incredible," said Miles about the support from the West Michigan community.

In the pool, Tim can also build his muscles to protect his bones, but the biggest payoff is that in the fitness pool he can simply be fourteen.

“You can forget for a while,” said Tim.

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