Updated: Thursday, October 2 2014, 01:45 PM CDT
By: Sherry Christian
LEMOYNE, Pa. -- It's a rare disease, but a Cumberland County family has two children diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia, which affects the muscles.
The Yingling family, of Lemoyne, isn't sitting around waiting for a cure, they're making a difference, thanks to a third wheel -- literally.
Nineteen-year-old Abby Yingling was diagnosed two years ago with FA. It was a two-year process which included misdiagnosis along the way.
In fact, it wasn't until Abby's younger brother, Chase, started showing the same symptoms, that a neurologist was finally able to pinpoint the problem and diagnosed both of them with Friedreich's ataxia.
There is no cure, but even more challenging is there really isn't an official treatment for FA. The Yinglings said supplements help, but what has really helped Abby and Chase is keeping active.
Jennifer Yingling, Chase and Abby's mother, said there are many experimental treatments.
"There are a lot of drugs that are in clinical trials right now, so there are potentially treatments available in the future, but we really need the funding to be able to continue to get that going," Jennifer said.
In the meantime, what keeps Abby and Chase going are their new Catrikes, which are specialized cycles courtesy of a grant from the Ataxia Athlete Initiative.
The rest is here:
Family making a difference in Friedrich's Ataxia research