For more than a year we heard these messages: Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Stay six feet apart. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says people who are fully vaccinated can resume many of the activities they did before the pandemic. The CDC recommends masks indoors in public for everyone in locales where . . .
After years of denial, it was the stairs to his second-floor college apartment that forced Chris Anselmo to finally face his limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) in 2009. “I remember moving in, trying to carry things like my desk chair to the top of the stairs, and just feeling completely weak and exhausted by the time I reached . . .
Bella, a 15-year-old in Fort Worth, Texas, loves jellyfish, horses, anime, Billie Eilish, reading sci-fi and fantasy, and making art. But living with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) makes it hard for her to engage in some of her favorite activities. “I can draw and paint for only a few minutes before my hand starts to hurt, so I . . .
Beginning in the early 1950s, when public awareness and understanding of muscular dystrophy and related neuromuscular diseases were extremely limited, MDA began calling upon individuals living with these diseases to serve as National Ambassadors, telling their personal stories and inspiring support of MDA. More than 40 MDA National Ambassadors, including children and adults, have met U.S. . . .
Jeff Shaw, program manager for MDA Let’s Play, MDA’s online gaming and streaming community, is part of a team that leads Saturday Game Nights on Twitch, celebrity streamer events for MDA, tournaments with great teams and players, and steadfast support and discussion on the MDA Let’s Play Discord server channel. Among our many great friends . . .
The Sweeneys — John, 58; his wife, Jennifer, 50; and daughters Dana, 24; Rachel, 22; and Ashley, 19 — live in a rowhouse in a small suburb outside of Philadelphia. Their street, John says, is busy — not unlike life inside the rowhouse lately. During the pandemic, the girls were living, working, and attending school . . .
Tomeca Goodwin, 46, lives with a form of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). Born in Cincinnati, where she still resides, Tomeca has had a long career in community health. She also owns and creates sweet confections through Unique Candy Cakes by Mec. She loves a good gut-busting, tear-dropping laugh (even at herself), and enjoys reading, spending . . .
Sean Baumstark was 25 when he was diagnosed with Friedrich’s ataxia, a neuromuscular disease that affects the nervous system and heart and causes muscle weakness and ataxia, a loss of balance and coordination. “During my diagnosis,” Sean says, “the geneticist started talking about support groups and encouraging that I come to grips with what I . . .
Josh Cueter, 22, from Troy, Michigan, is a 2020 graduate from Michigan State University. At school he was a board member of the MSU Adaptive Sports & Recreation Club as well as MSU’s Council of Students with Disabilities. After a semester internship with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, DC, Josh is currently working . . .
In the gaming world, Paul Scherer goes by Puzzle. And as community manager of MDA Let’s Play, our dedicated community gaming and fundraising platform, he anticipates technical issues and seeks solutions to player requests to put together an experience that, for MDA gamers, is as seamless as it is satisfying. But who is the guy . . .
