Pat was alarmed when her son wasn’t crawling by age one. So, like any good mother, she took him to see the doctor.
After a long examination, the doctor diagnosed baby Jon with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). That meant instead of getting stronger as he aged, Jon would get weaker. Eventually he would get pneumonia and die.
The doctor, who said he was being generous, gave him until two years old to live.
Pat, however, would have none of that.
She — and a cadre of medical staff, family, and friends — fought to keep him alive.
Jon did get pneumonia. 16 times. But because of their hard work, he survived, and at 31 Jon is one of the oldest people alive with SMA.
As you can imagine, Jon is infused with his mother’s warrior spirit.
The warrior with a strong voice
Jon graduated high school at 16 with honors. He nailed a 3.921 GPA in college (though he confesses he wishes he hadn’t). He’s asked for $500,000 in seed money to start a software company. Brokered million dollar home sales.
Because he can only move the muscles of his face, he gets things done with his voice … and his voice alone.
