In the 2023 League-wide My Cause My Cleats campaign, Buccaneers' running back Rachaad White supported a genetic disease that hits close to his heart. White's real estate agent, Ryan Schnyders, has a six-year-old daughter named Emma that suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a disorder that affects nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. Individuals living with SMA lose a specific type of nerve cell in the spinal cord (motor neurons) that control muscle movement. Without motor neurons, muscles do not receive nerve signals that make muscles move. Approximately 10,000-25,000 children and adults are living with SMA in the United States. It is a rare disease that affects one out of 6,000-10,000 children. Despite the unfathomable diagnosis and emotions that are invariably linked to the genetic disease, Ryan Schnyders and his family have chosen to focus on the minuscule, yet monumental leaps that Emma makes on a daily basis, defying parameters.
"We can't express how grateful we are for Rachaad to be an advocate for my daughter and other little kids like her," described Ryan Schnyders. "There are five other local kids that have what she has in the Tampa Bay area that we know about and regularly talk to. There are different types of SMA depending on your genetic makeup. Emma has the most severe type and because of the medications that she is on, everything she is doing, they told us would not happen. She sat up unassisted for three minutes yesterday and we were told that would never happen. She is literally a miracle every day. She has taught my whole family the gratitude for what you have. She embodies being grateful for every moment and she never has a bad day. We are truly blessed and cannot thank Rachaad enough for being an advocate for Emma and the SMA population as a whole."
Emma has been living with Type 1 SMA since she was six months old. She was given a life expectancy of two years old and continues to overcome the odds stacked against her with miraculous little feats every day, including sitting up by herself. About 60% of people with SMA have type 1, also called Werdnig-Hoffman disease. Symptoms appear at birth or generally within an infant's first six months of life. Infants with type 1 SMA have difficulty swallowing and usually are not able to hold their head up or sit, however, Emma is an awe-inspiring anomaly. Most children with type 1 SMA pass away before their second birthday and Emma has far surpassed that preconceived timeline.
White made it his mission to shed light on SMA with custom-designed cleats to raise awareness and advocate for newborn screenings and early identification tests.
"The chemistry and the bond that we created over the past several months of the offseason has meant a lot to me, and to see her [Emma] defeat all the odds, has been amazing. I am a huge advocate to cure SMA," said White.
