Name: Sam Archuleta
Age: 16
Where do you call home? Indiana
Education: Jr. in High school
Who do you live with? I live with my loving step mom Steph, step brother Toby, Dad Tracy, Brother Alex, Mom Lisa, and my sister Mikaela. My nephew Raymond lives with my sister.
What’s a typical day for you? A typical day for me is I wake up, take a shower, eat, then go ride my bike for 3.5 miles around my neighborhood. After that, I watch sport highlights or watch rewinds of baseball, football, or basketball games. I go hang out with my friends Collin,Luke, Mason , and Ethan. We always find something fun to do like place bets on pool, I will go watch them play sand volleyball, go to sonic, or go swim. Usually at night I play PS4 with my friends if I’m not already with them.
How long have you known you are living with FA? I was diagnosed with FA March of 2018 when I was 14 years old. I was going to appointments every 3-4 weeks for about 2 months until they diagnosed me with FA.
Describe your transition from walking to walker/wheelchair. My transition to walking to a walker was difficult. I always try pushing myself to walk by myself and do certain things by myself so going from walking to a walker was challenging
What do you like to do to stay active and what type of exercises work for you to stay strong? To keep myself busy I do my physical therapy exercises and add a couple exercises to push myself to be the best I can be. I also enjoy playing with my nephew Raymond and trying to make him always have a smile on his face.
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? Hobbies of mine are watching/ helping with baseball, hanging out with friends and family, and playing video games with my friends.
What is a good trick to make daily life easier? To make my day easier I like to do exercises and other activities to try and to be the best I can be and be positive.
What is one way living with FA has POSITIVELY affected your life? One way FA has affected my life is how I can’t play baseball anymore. At first, it was very hard for me to get passed because baseball was my life. That’s all I could think about before I was diagnosed with FA. Now I try to get involved the best way I can with baseball like becoming manager for my high school team and going to watch my brother play for my Dad at USI.
What is piece of advice that someone with FA has given you that encourages and inspires you? A piece of advice someone has gave me with FA is Kyle Bryant, he told me, “when something bad comes to you, don’t run in the wrong direction.”
What is the best advice YOU could give to a person who has been newly diagnosed with FA? Someone that has been newly diagnosed with FA, I would tell them to keep their head high and keep fighting and do not think that FA has ruined your life.
What is the first thing you want to do when a cure/treatment to FA is found? The first thing I want to do when the cure for FA comes out is to try help other families with FA that need the drug more than me and help them get it.
“I have FA but FA doesn’t have me.” What does this statement mean to you? How do you live your life in the face of adversity? The statement,” I have FA but FA doesn’t have me” means to me that even though I have FA, FA has not brought me down. I live my life in the face of adversity no different than I did before I had FA.
Interview by
Carrie Bolinger