The FA Awareness Day Luau was a special event! The Arioto family is deeply passionate about finding a cure for FA but equally as passionate about living their lives in a manner that doesn't allow FA to hold them back! Even with the threat of rain, this community didn't let the weather keep them from packing the house all for the sake of having fun and closing the gap between yesterday and a cure for FA. Click here to watch this short video collage of the FA Awareness Day Luau 2019.

Carli (Hook) Hanson, 36, from Michigan City, Indiana.

After watching my sister find her diagnosis from across the country, I saw symptoms in myself at 22 (occasional loss of balance). I graduated from Texas A&M at Galveston with a BS in Marine Administration. I am happily divorced with two kids. My parents are close by and help a lot with the kids. I worked for a small concrete construction company for 10 years before "retiring" to disability.

My name is Natache Iamaya, I'm Brazilian and live in Rio de Janeiro. At the age of 13, I began to notice something in my coordination and balance and at age 18, after several inconclusive tests, I was diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia.

When the first symptoms became visible, I noticed people staring of me out of curiosity. Later in college, I continued to feel prejudice and I had to face a country unprepared to accept handicapped people. These events added to all the dreams and expectations of a young woman eager to discover things and find acceptance, bewildered me and made me isolate myself in a cocoon of sadness, fear, and shame for what was happening. It took me a while but I turned around and I realized that my happiness depends primarily on me and how important it is to have determination and courage to keep moving forward.

Name: Andrew Marshall

Age: 37

Where do you call home? Johannesburg, South Africa.

What is your relationship status? I am not married.

What's a typical day for you? My days vary. Typically, I focus on a gym routine or marketing my memoir.

How long have you known you are living with FA? I was 16 when I was finally diagnosed after going to numerous professors and doctors.