30 Days of MD: LGMD Awareness Day

by Ralph Yaniz | September 12, 2019

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Day 12 of #30daysofMD Introducing Carol Abraham and LGMD Awareness Day Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) Awareness Day was founded by Carol Abraham, who has lived with LGMD since childhood. Through collaboration with a variety of LGMD focused foundations and organizations, Carol began plans to organize the first LGMD Awareness Day which was celebrated on September 30, 2015. Over the past 5 years, Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Day has become an annual collaborative effort to globally raise awareness. The focus is to provide educational information and resources for the LGMD community and others via social media, on-line, and at various events. The goal is to educate the public and unite the LGMD community while also raising awareness of the many individuals living with this disease worldwide. The fifth annual global “Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Day” will be held on September 30th, 2019. Advocacy has been an important facet of her life! Carol is the Director of Community Outreach for Coalition to Cure Calpain 3, an organization with the mission to find a treatment and cure for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2A (LGMD2A). In addition, Carol serves as the Vice Chairperson of the National Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Conference, (a program and project of The Speak Foundation). The first ground-breaking LGMD conference was just held in Chicago, over Labor Day weekend. This historic event was attended by over 400 individuals from 20 countries and brought together individuals with LGMD, family members, researchers, physicians, and biotech companies all in one place with the goal to provide momentum to emerging treatments. Carol was also Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin 2016 and focused on disability advocacy during her reign. Living with a progressive neuromuscular disease is indeed challenging but it hasn’t slowed Carol down. Carol is a graduate of Mount Mary University and worked as an Occupational Therapist (OTR) for 20+ years. She and her husband Tim have been married for over 28 years. Carol and Tim have a wonderful “Can Do” attitude and maintain a very busy lifestyle. Her motto in life is “Together We Are Stronger!”

A post shared by MDNewsToday (@mdnewstoday) on Sep 12, 2019 at 4:43am PDT

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About the Author

Ralph Yaniz Ralph served as the executive director of the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation in 2016, helping to establish the organization and begin serving the community. Prior to that he worked for AARP, where he was a regional vice president for a decade and, prior to that, the Illinois State Director for four years. In his capacity as the Illinois State Director, Ralph led AARP Illinois in major legislative victories between 2002 and 2006, including the Older Adult Services Act in 2004. Before going to AARP, Ralph was executive director of the Berwyn Cicero Council on Aging. The mission of the organization is to assist adults over 60 in maintaining their independent living with the highest quality of life. He holds BS and MA degrees in psychology from Loyola University of Chicago and worked as a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois for three decades. He also holds an MBA degree from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Ralph has served on numerous boards for nonprofit organizations and in 2018 founded the LGMD2L Foundation to help look for treatments and cures for his form of muscular dystrophy.