Shaquem Griffin, an inspiration on and off the field, recently received the Rare Disease Champion Award presented to an outstanding leader in college football and the rare disease community alike, reported Rare DR. Every year (for the past 10 years) the Uplifting Athletes, a nonprofit, presents this award, recognizing a strong positive impact by an athlete to the community. Griffin is a linebacker from the UCF (Central Florida), and is honored to have received this award being chosen above his fellow competitors Zack Mohoney from Syracuse, Casey O’Brien from Minnesota, and lastly Jaqwis Dancy from Louisiana Tech.
Griffin was diagnosed with the rare disorder amniotic band syndrome (ABS) upon birth. Symptoms from this involve congenital birth defects caused by confinement of fetal body parts leading to a lack of blood flow and slower development. Because of this, Griffin was forced to have his hand removed at four-years-old. Still, he didn’t let that slow him down and now he’s one of the leading linebackers in college football. In a recent game he crushed his opponents by leading his team with twelve tackles and nearly two sacks. He’s been continually nominated for awards over the course of his college career having garnered the Allstate Good Works nomination, as well as the Butkus performance award. He was even named the Defensive Player of 2016 by the American Athletic Conference. His accolades have continued to collect on and more importantly, off the field. To read more about ABS, click here.
Out of 10,000 total votes, Griffin respectably took away the Champion Award. He is recognized by many because every day he does something to make a difference. He currently is working with Limbitless Solutions, an organization at UCF that aids children who will eventually need prosthetics. His good deeds will continue to go unnoticed as he’s honored for this recent at an awards gala taking place in Atlantic City March 9th.
