Staying Active
Pushing Limits
After six long days, I’m tired. It’s the middle of the night, I’m wearing five layers of clothing and I know I have several more hours to go in the frigid air before I reach the 19,341-foot summit. “Mom believes in you. Dad believes in you. All of your friends and family believe in you. You are strong,” are the words that echo through my mind with every step.
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Adaptive Is the New Black
This fall, New York Fashion Week opened with a bang: A runway show called Fashion Revolution presented numerous types of adaptive clothing worn by 30 models with disabilities. Organized by the Runway of Dreams Foundation — a nonprofit created by Mindy Scheier, whose son, Oliver, has a rare type of muscular dystrophy — the show highlighted the foundation’s goals of dispelling common fashion industry misconceptions about people with disabilities.
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Music Makes It Better
Whether it’s through headphones, blasting out of the van speakers or playing live right in front of me, music has been my constant source of happiness. After years of misdiagnoses, I was recently diagnosed with a form of congenital muscular dystrophy called collagen VI (with a bunch of letters and numbers after it that make me sound like a robot). Through the ups and downs of medical woes and lifestyle changes — from walking to using a wheelchair — the one thing that has consistently put a smile on my face is music in any way, shape or form.
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Students of the World
Editor's note: Shortly after the Summer 2018 issue of Quest was published, we learned that Joe Brown, who was featured on the cover, passed away. Joe graciously shared with Quest his story of studying abroad in the United Arab Emirates for the article "Students of the World." Individuals like Joe and the families who love them are at the heart of everything we do and why MDA is committed to transforming the lives of patients with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and other neuromuscular diseases. In this issue of Quest, we honor Joe's memory, spirit and passion for life.
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The Great Accessible Outdoors
Jessica Albanese, 20, is passionate about the outdoors. The Delaware native, who lives with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), has navigated several of our country’s natural wonders in her power wheelchair.“Traveling is a passion of mine,” Albanese says. “I’ve hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains, I’ve seen the wild ponies at Assateague Island, and I’ve visited the alligators at Everglades National Park.”
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Pushing the Limit
After running three marathons with MDA Team Momentum since 2014, Will Farr was ready for a bigger challenge. Farr had previously pushed his 14-year-old son, Owen, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), in a racing chair for a 4-mile race as part of a charitable initiative of the men’s workout group F3 Nation. In a video made to promote the initiative, Owen was asked if he thought his dad would push him in a marathon. Of course, Owen’s answer was “Yes,” and Farr decided to prove Owen right. In October, at the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., Farr pushed Owen for the entire 26.2-mile race.
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Flying High with Kippy
When Christine “Kippy” Hoene, a 57-year-old acrobat and entrepreneur with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), first opened her SaltAer circus school in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this year, it represented a culmination of her passions. At age 35, Hoene decided she wanted to learn a new skill every year, and after seeing Cirque du Soleil perform in Las Vegas, she set out to learn acrobatics.
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Going for the Gold
This July, four athletes with neuromuscular diseases competed in the Federation Internationale De Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA) World Cup for Team USA, which came in second place overall. Jordan Dickey, Natalie Russo, Ben Carpenter and Nathan Mayer all competed in the tournament, which pits teams of four individuals operating wheelchairs with wheel guards against each other in a game commonly called power soccer. The goal is to maneuver your team’s ball into the other team’s goal through dribbling, passing and shooting.
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Pushing Their Limits
In 2014, two lifelong friends set off on a journey that, in addition to deepening their friendship and teaching them life lessons, would eventually inspire a book, speaking engagements and a documentary called “ I’ll Push You,” which is premiering November 2. Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray have been friends since birth. When Skeesuck was 16 years old, he began to feel the effects of a rare form of neuromuscular disease.
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Picture Perfect
Karen Condron’s passion for painting dates back to her first art lessons in 1968, but she only began showing her work at festivals in 2013, the same year she was diagnosed with bulbar-onset ALS. When ALS begins in the bulbar motor neurons, the muscles used for swallowing and speaking often are affected first.
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