SMA it FORWARD with CASHEL

Every visit to my site means one more person knows about SMA

To KNOW SMA can lead to NO SMA

kNOw

SMA

SMA It Forward to someone and help

raise awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy,SMA

My goal in my life is to reach 1 Million people in my

lifetime and teach them about SMA

while spreading hope, faith and positivity

I want everyone to be proud of who they are and

know that there is more to each of us

no matter what our physical abilities or disabilities are

Every time you SMA It Forward you raise

awareness and can save a child's life

You also get to meet some awesome kids with SMA

and their families

Hello Everybody!

Here is a video I made about some of the

AMAZING SMA Kids

I have met and all the things we CAN & HAVE done!!!

Hi!

My name is Cashel Gardner(pronounced Cash ul, and I am a boy :) ) and I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The doctor told my parents I would die before I turned 2 years old, Boy oh boy were they WRONG! I turned 19 years old on January 10, 2016 and have NO plans on leaving Earth anytime soon but, I do have a goal to accomplish and I need YOUR HELP!

So lets start with what the heck Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SM

A) IS:

This is straight from Wikipedia; Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an incurable autosomal recessive disease caused by a genetic defect in the SMN1 gene which codes SMN, a protein necessary for survival of motor neurons, and resulting in death of neuronal cells in the anterior horn of spinal cord and subsequent system-wide muscle wasting (atrophy).Spinal muscular atrophy manifests in various degrees of severity which all have in common general muscle wasting and mobility impairment. Other body systems may be affected as well, particularly in early-onset forms. Spinal muscular atrophy is the most common genetic cause of infant death.

Now Here's what that all basically means; Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a genetic disease that causes a baby or child to become completely paralyzed from head to toe but can feel everything. It happens at different degrees with the worst form Type 1 (which is what my sister and I have) to cause death by 18 months of age. We cannot sit up, hold up your own head, swallow or even breathe on our own, which is why death will happen unless intervention is used.By the way I just want to thank my mom and dad for using these methods and machines to give me life.

There are a few thing I want you to know about me before we get to my goal. First, I have always felt that I am special and God has a job He needs me to do here on Earth. I do not feel like I am weird, in fact when I am out and people stare at me it doesn't bother me at all. My mom has taught me many things and one was that it is good to be different and I embrace my difference from everybody walking around. Also, I want encourage researchers to find a cure for SMA but I do not want it for me, I want it for my sister Allie so she can dance with a boy at her senior prom, I want it for all the babies and young children so they can grow up and find another way to be different and important, because let's face not everybody would be happy laying in bed all day and not being able to move, eat or even breathe on their own as I am.

I feel it is time for me to step up and start the work God needs me to do and my first goal is inspired by a movie believe it or not and no, it is not The Hunger Games! It is "Pay It Forward". I believe even from my bed I can reach the world and bring awareness about SMA and help to get a cure, and there is a cure in sight! So here is what I want to do, EVERYDAY I am going to reach out to someone and tell them about SMA and how to help and then I will ask them to SMA It Forward to another person and so on and so on. My goal is to get likes on my SMA IT FORWARD WITH CASHEL Facebook page to show how many people we reach. My goal of 1 MILLION "Likes" (People reached) in my lifetime. That means 1 MILLION people will know what is killing these innocent babies and help conquer this disease. Am I crazy for trying? I don't think so. I think it is crazy to let this disease go on without spreading the word. So are you in? Like and SMA It Forward with me!

I would also like any input from families with SMA children that will help educate others about SMA, pictures and stories posted on here from other families with SMA and anything else that you might find helpful, fun and inspiring for the world to know about us SMA kids and families!

Please be sure to visit my Facebook page and LIKE it!

The Facebook page is my offical counter for how

many people I have reached with SMA IT FORWARD!

http://www.facebook.com/SmaItForwardWithCashel