Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 when he was just 14 months old, Bartle stays positive and adaptable.

Photo provided by Corewell Health

FARMINGTON HILLS — “Resilient,” “positive” and “optimistic” are words that peers use to describe Gary Bartle, 39, of Farmington Hills.

At 14 months old, his parents noticed he would crawl but would not try to sit up or stand. He was not meeting the markers of other children his age.

His parents took him to Beaumont Hospital — now Corewell Health — where he was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy called spinal muscular atrophy, type 2.

When he was diagnosed, Bartle said, his family went to work.

His grandfather, aunts and uncles helped build ramps at the Farmington Hills home that his grandparents originally moved into in 1965. Hi

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