KIWANIS Magazine

On a roll

Story by Dick Isenhour

Shana Martin does everything full bore. A member of the Downtown Madison, Wisconsin, Kiwanis Club, Martin is a five-time world lumberjack champion, fitness model and competitor, personal trainer and businesswoman. More importantly, she works tirelessly to raise awareness about Huntington’s Disease, a brain disorder that afflicts her mother and could catch up to her someday.

“My mother showed symptoms around the age of 30,” Martin notes. “During my birth, she would show irregular movements and the doctors noticed it. It wasn’t until about five years later, though, that they made the official diagnosis.”

At 16, after working with other young people dealing with sick parents, Martin helped form the (U.S.) National Youth Alliance of the Huntington’s Disease Society. The group now includes thousands of young people all over the world struggling to cope with the awful disease in their families.

“I’m 31 right now,” Martin says. “Because I’ve decided not to be tested but still have a 50 percent chance of having Huntington’s Disease, every day disease-free is a blessing.”

Read or download the rest of the story from the February 2012 Kiwanis magazine.

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