Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino visited with Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy at the Hudson Hills Golf Course in Ossining on Monday in an effort to help develop a treatment and cure for the number one killer of children under the age of two.
The Families of SMA Greater New York Chapter Golf Outing raised nearly $30,000 and counting.
SMA is an inherited and often fatal disease that destroys the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movement, which affects crawling, walking, head and neck control, and even swallowing. Two newborn children are affected each day in the United States, or approximately 1 in every 6,000 live births. One in every 40 people carries the gene that causes SMA, which means there are more than seven million carriers in the U.S. alone. Currently there is no treatment or cure.
Families of SMA is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1984 with the mission to find a treatment and cure for SMA. FSMA is made up of more than 85,000 members and supporters and has funded more than $53 Million in leading research programs since its inception.