Twenty –one year old Andrew Schnitker has always loved football and hockey; and even though he has severe factor VIII hemophilia, these sports will continue to be a huge part of his life.  That’s right, because even though Andrew can’t play these sports due to two target knee joints, he has high hopes of becoming a sports broadcaster after his graduation next December.

Andrew grew up in Dallas, Texas, and also has a brother who has hemophilia.  His mom knew she was a carrier because her dad had hemophilia, so she knew Andrew would have hemophilia before he was born.  “The thing I like least about having hemophilia is having target joints; both of my knees are bad. I had a port a cath from age 5 to 13, and started prophylaxis then since I started developing target joints before I was five because I had an inhibitor,” he recalls.   Andrew’s parents kept up his prophylaxis and he eventually beat his inhibitor.

When he was a boy, Andrew loved to watch the Dallas Cowboys football games and remembers watching the Dallas Stars hockey team win the Stanley Cup with his dad.  He really wanted to play, but was never allowed to.  “Mom and Grandma wanted to keep me safe,” he says.

Since Andrew has always loved sports, and has been acting since he was five years old, he has found a way to combine the two into a career.  He has been studying communications at the University of Texas in Austin, and hopes to someday have a job in the sports field.  You see, there is more than one way to have a career in sports; Andrew hopes to possibly be a sports writer, editor, producer or reporter.  He says, “I love sports, it’s something that brings people together, and to see the drama unfold is a thrill.”

Andrew is the president of his fraternity and says he has spent the last four years teaching all of his fraternity brothers about hemophilia.   He says, “I would rather have people ask questions and learn about my bleeding disorder than try to hide it or be embarrassed by it.  It is a disorder that not a lot of people know about and I want to clear up their misconceptions.  I would never want to use this disorder as a crutch.”

Andrew currently does a Radio show on campus.  “I’ve been the sports director on 91.7 KVRX for a year.  I do the Longhorn College sports talk, it is an FM spot Tuesdays at 7:00PM,” he explains.   He started out as a guest on the show, and finally was given a show of his very own.  He jokes, “I just kept volunteering until they gave me my own show!”  He says, “I have also done an internship with ESPN radio.  I love it because you get to create a character.  You can show up in athletic shorts and a T-shirt, it is such freedom- so enjoyable.  It’s a stress release for me.” He says he is not sure what his eventual job will be, but for the summer he has an internship with the CBS affiliate, doing sports writing, producing editing, and maybe even some reporting.   He is excited about his future and says he can’t think of anything better than to get paid for doing something you love.  He even thinks he would be willing to move anywhere, just to get a job in sports.  He says, “It’s funny, when I was in school, I hated English, but loved geography and history.  Now I may be a sports writer!”

Andrew’s advice to other kids with hemophilia is, “Don’t put yourself in a box that says, “I am a Hemophiliac!” It does make you unique, but you just have different challenges.  Embrace it, but don’t let it change who you are.  And Andrew’s advice about going to college: “Choose a major that you’re interested in, or really like.  College will provide some of the best experiences of your life…learn as much as possible and get involved at your school.  Everyone in college wants to meet new people and learn about different cultures, so jump in and embrace it!  The more learning and growing you do during your college years the more likely you will be to find the job you really want!”  That sounds like good advice from a twenty-something who has it all together and will soon be reporting from the world of sports.

On November 11, 2005 my 11 month old son was diagnosed with severe Hemophilia A. We began infusing him with factor VIII for bleeds. Within 4 months, we began to notice the factor was not healing him as quickly. It was around then that we found out about his inhibitor. After lengthy discussion with his doctors we made the decision to try to fight it off. Jeryn was so young that his best option was to place a port-a-cath in his chest for the daily infusions. He was to be given a very large dose of factor VIII every day, aka Immune Tolerance Induction, for as long as it took.

At this point, all we could do was be afraid for our son. We had, within a six month period, found out our son had a bleeding disorder, the medicine to control the bleeds did not work, and he would have to have surgery if he was to have any chance of beating it. Every doctor will assure you, and your family will console you but at the end of the day you will still be scared. That is ok, you have that right.

Over the next 3 years Jeryn would successfully fend off the inhibitor 4 times.  Each time it would come back without warning and stronger than it was previously.  It is currently August 2009 and his inhibitor level has been 0 since January.  From this point on every day brings the possibility that it may return but also the hope that it will not.

It is important to note that our doctor is one of the best in the world and he told us that if we did not beat it within 18 months the chances we would beat it at all were very low.  Forty-four months later my son is still fighting and still winning small battles.  Throughout this ordeal my wife and I have learned many valuable lessons, the most important being never give up, never quit!

In the beginning you will feel confused, scared, and fearful that you can’t handle having this placed in your hands.  The Bible says that God will never put more on you than you can handle.  You will learn that you have more nerve, ambition, and heart than you ever knew you had.  While it is truly sad that a child must bear this disorder, in the long run, he will be a better, stronger person for it.