Last week, teams throughout the National Collegiate Athletic Association participated in the “Coach to Cure MD”, and coaches for those teams wore the patch on their sleeve. To help raise awareness, 15-year old Ryan Karlin joined Western Michigan University as an honorary captain for their football game against Ball State University, along with his golden retriever, Duffy.
Karlin was an athlete up until he was ten years old when he was diagnosed with MD, which completely took away his ability to compete in athletics. Despite that, Karlin wanted to stay connected with sports, so he became a play-by-play announcer for his high school football team in Naperville, Ill.