Matthews is a champion for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne is a progressive muscle-wasting disease that primarily affects boys. By the time boys with Duchenne come of age, they can only watch in pain from the seat of a wheelchair as everyone around them moves flawlessly through life. As someone with this awful disease, I know what that feeling is like.
The story begins back in 2010 when CureDuchenne, a nonprofit started by my parents, had the opportunity to pick an NFL player to represent the Duchenne cause in a Cadillac promotion for the Super Bowl. I was 12 years old at the time, and Matthews was new to the NFL.
Since then, we have all grown so much — CureDuchenne, Matthews and I. With Matthews’ help, CureDuchenne raised over $1 million with the Super Bowl promotion, which allowed the organization to invest in early scientific research, resulting in the first FDA-approved drug to treat the disease. Matthews became an NFL superstar, and I grew up and went to college.
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