This memorial day weekend the New York Skate Series teamed up with I Roll NY in skating for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and a young blader, Steven White, who has EDS. We hosted an all day session sponsored by Rollerblade who was kind enough to provide a free skate voucher which local blader Malik Ashby won and in his support for EDS, gave to Steven to encourage him to stay strong and keep blading. Featuring skating from Zach Cramer, Pablo Munoz, Adonis Taylor, Joey Lunger, Andy Bodnar, and Tadd Labozzetta. Get more information on EDS and Steven’s story below.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a collection of heritable connective tissue disorders. We had the pleasure of meeting an 8 year-old named Steven White who has EDS and his dedicated mother, Yoly Ym, at our first event of the 2016 season. It’s awe inspiring to watch Steven skate, knowing that when the skates come off, he wears leg braces and sometimes uses a wheel chair. Steven is able to rollerblade, because his skates provide him with support, stability, and freedom that does not exist with other alternative sports or with most sports for that matter.
Why Zebra Stripes?
Doctors are taught the phrase “When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras”. In medicine, “zebra” is used for a rare disease or condition. Doctors often assume that the simplest explanation is correct to avoid misdiagnosis with rare illnesses. But many medical professionals forget that “zebras” DO exist and so getting a diagnosis and treatment is more difficult for rare conditions. EDS is a rare condition and those with it are known as medical zebras.
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