Meet Ryan Tubiolo -- This year's Goodwill Ambassador for the MDA | News

Do you judge people by how much they accomplish? If that's the case, I think you'll agree that Ryan Tubiolo is quite a success and he's only 12.

He was diagnosed with a muscle disease shortly after he began to walk but he hasn't let his disease stop him from doing what he wants and that’s why the Rochester chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association has named him this year's goodwill ambassador.

When 12-year-old Ryan agreed to be Rochester’s goodwill ambassador at the beginning of the year, he knew there'd be travelling involved.

He and his father, Kevin, have appeared at numerous events like the Muscle Walk at the Blue Cross Arena, shamrock events in the month of March and Fill the Boot collection drives with area firefighters -- all raising money to find a cure to a variety of muscle diseases.

Ryan was diagnosed with duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was two and a half. News10NBC featured him in 2003. At that time, it was hard to tell anything was wrong with his muscles but now, as a soon to be seventh grader at Willink Middle School, he is wheelchair bound and must go through two to three hours of treatments daily to stretch his muscles and prevent painful contractions in his legs.

Ryan said, “My dad tries to do as much things as he can but we can't do a lot because it's hard for me to get around.”

Still, Ryan can move on the baseball field. When regular little league was over for Ryan, the Tubiolos found Challenger Baseball and he can hit home runs despite the disease.

Kevin Tubiolo said, “We've tried to make it possible that he can do everything that any other kid can do we just have to make some adjustments and do things a little differently.”

As a goodwill ambassador, Ryan has become a role model for others.

Tubiolo said, “Stretching beyond muscular dystrophy -- kids who may have any kind of other developmental or physical disabilities or whatever it might be to say look at this kid you know he
is confined to a power wheelchair and he's doing all this stuff.”

News10NBC has a lot of inspirational stories to tell. This Sunday night during the MDA Show of Strength, you will see national entertainers and local groups that have raised money for the MDA this year.

Join Rebecca Leclair and Tony Infantino from Warm 101.3 on Sunday night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on News10NBC.