Austin Carlile to be honored by The Marfan Foundation

Austin Carlile, a longtime spokesman for Marfan Syndrome, will be recognized at the 33rd annual Marfan Foundation Conference in Atlanta, GA where he'll receive the Heart of the Matter Award.

Check out what Carlile had to say about the award below!

Read more: Of Mice & Men’s Austin Carlile discusses his fight with Marfan Syndrome

Carlile has never shied away from raising awareness about Marfan Syndrome, including having a Q&A on Twitter where he allowed fans to ask him questions about the rare disorder along with including teens with Marfan syndrome in the music video for Of Mice & Men's “Real.”

This public awareness is one of the reasons Carlile will be recognized with such a prestigious award.

“Austin is a beacon of hope for the Marfan and related disorders community, especially the teens and young adults who have watched as he pursued his career and, ultimately, had to change direction because of his condition,” says Maya Brown-Zimmerman, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Despite Austin’s medical struggles, he has embraced this community and has used his celebrity to raise the profile of Marfan and related disorders so that others can get diagnosed early. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor him.”

This conference will take place the weekend of August 3 through the 6, with Carlile receiving Heart of the Matter Award on the 4.

He'll also cut the ribbon at the Foundation’s Conference Walk for Victory, which will kick off the Walk. This year, the Walk for Victory program has raised nearly $500,000 for the Foundation.

“I'm honored to receive this award from The Marfan Foundation just as I am honored to be a part of the community that makes up who we are. The tall, the thin, even short and stout… each of us has this one thing that binds us together, a common thread of daily suffering that some of us find ourselves in, and also the common thread through which we can care for, share and empathize with, and understand each other. So few really understand what it's like to walk a day in the shoes of someone battling a chronic illness,” said Carlile.

You can visit the Marfan Foundation to find out more, along with following them on Twitter.