Boy tries to hug Donald Trump but doesn't get noticed until third attempt

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed into law a new act that could save millions of people’s lives. The Right To Try Act allows patients who have life-threatening illnesses the right to use experimental medications.

One such person in attendance was little Jordan McLinn according to CBS News. After the President signed the act, the boy tried to hug him numerous times and only succeeded on his third try.

The Right to Try Act will make medication that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to be available to patients. President Trump signed the act into power on Wednesday at a signing ceremony in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus.

After signing the new law, Trump gave his pen to Jordan McLinn, 7. The boy was sitting in a wheelchair next to the President’s desk.

McLinn has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. While Trump handed out pens to other guests at the event, someone appeared to whisper to McLinn to go in for a hug.

The little boy moved in for a hug, but the president didn't notice him. McLinn waited patiently as Trump kept interacting with other guest and then tried for the second time to get his hug

“Today I am proud to keep another promise to the American people as I sign the Right to Try legislation into law. We're going to be saving tremendous numbers of lives.”

President Donald Trump, Fox News, May 30, 2018

The boy’s third try was the lucky one as the President hugged him tight and spoke to him. Trump even added a kiss on top of the boy’s head for good measure.

McLinn has been involved in the act being signed since the legislation came to the House in March 2018. Republican representatives brought the boy and other terminally ill patients to the House chamber.

At the time, he had been seated next to Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, while the House discussed the potentially life-saving bill. McLinn also appeared in 2015 with then Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, now vice president, as he signed a nearly identical Right-to-Try legislation specific to their home state.

That year the bill was passed into law unanimously in the state legislature. McLinn’s condition has symptoms that first appear at 3 to 5 years of age.

Children afflicted with DMD are likely to be wheelchair-bound by the age of 12. Life expectancy was, until recently, very short.

Many sufferers never survived beyond their teen years, according to the DMD website. Advances in medical care were responsible for extended life expectancy which is now into the early 30s.