We all need people to carry us on their shoulders when we can no longer go on.
These Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers show us how it should be done.
Joey Mullaney is a college junior at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where it is a rite of passage to hike Sleeping Giant mountain. A high school class valedictorian, Joey is reportedly "an amazing young man...taking Quinnipiac by storm" both academically and socially.
He was born with Friedreich's Ataxia, an autosomal recessive inherited disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Because the FA has confined him to a wheelchair, Joey thought he couldn't climb Sleeping Giant.
His Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers decided he could.
They are an example for all of us.
Help Joey and others who have Friedreich's Ataxia find a cure on October 11th by joining a RideAtaxia team or donating to the SigEp Team who helped Joey climb the mountain.
Reba Riley is the author of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: A Memoir of Humor and Healing, a book Elizabeth Gilbert called, "Hilarious, courageous, provocative...Eat Pray Love's gutsy, wise, funny little sister." A survivor of autoimmune illness, health advocate for the undiagnosed patient, and champion for the power of spiritual healing, Reba now writes for The Huffington Post and Patheos.com and travels widely speaking on the topics of transformation and courage.