FARA Ambassador Program
Hey! My name is Noah, and I am 21 years old. I am from Salem, Alabama, and I am a senior in journalism at Auburn University. I was diagnosed with FA at age 16 after playing sports my whole life up until that point. I played basketball and baseball. I wanted to stay involved with sports even with FA, so upon transferring to Auburn I joined the student newspaper and got into sports journalism. I soon found success and climbed the latter to being a sports editor a year later.That’s me: driven, determined and persistent. FA has taken a lot from me, but I am still determined to find my purpose and make a difference in my community. I use my journalism platform to advocate for accessibility issues and to show off accomplishments and perspectives of people with disabilities.
I love writing, lifting weights, fishing, and playing with my service dog, Schooner, in addition to attending FARA events and participating in projects. I became an ambassador in 2020 after attending my first FARA event in the fall of 2019, the Energy Ball. This event is so uplifting and hopeful, and meeting lots of new families and people with FA showed me that I’m not alone and that I can make a difference.Since then, I have made huge strides in my self-confidence knowing that my voice matters and FA doesn’t change who I am. Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @noah.griffith.26 or follow my reporting on Twitter @NoahGG01!
Original MTC: 
Name: Dee Smith
My name is Hasitha Illa and I am an HR by profession and by passion I am a published author, motivational speaker as well as a disability advocate. I was diagnosed with a #rare disease called Friedreich's ataxia. In the beginning, this diagnosis was obviously very heart breaking but later on, it fueled the fire to do many many things. One of them being to publish a book!