West Boca Raton Warrior

A few years ago, West Boca Raton teenager Noah Forman was a rising star in the martial arts community. He excelled in karate, boxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu and earned titles in four world championships. 

Then one day, at the age of 12, he began to feel sick. Really sick.

After hospital visits and lots of tests, Noah was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia. Chiari Malformation is a condition in which brain tissue extends into the spinal canal, while Syringomyelia means that a fluid-filled cyst had formed inside the canal.

The news shocked Noah and his family, but what bothered Noah even more was that doctors said he could no longer practice contact sports like mixed martial arts. The news was devastating.

“It was a dark hole to climb out of. I lost a piece of myself,” says Noah, who is a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University High School.

He eventually found his way out of that hole with the help of his family — parents Micki and Doug and siblings Leah and Ethan.

He now is actively into running, a sport approved by his doctors. At 14, he ran two half-marathons and today, at age 15, he recently finished competing on his high school’s cross-country team.

Running also gave him inspiration to create his first 5K event at South County Regional Park last September to collect money for medical research. The race, which was sponsored by a national nonprofit organization called the Bobby Jones Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia Foundation, raised more than $38,000.

Noah now has his own weekly podcast called “The Chiari Champion” — the only one of its kind out today, Noah says, which focuses on interviewing medical experts about the disease. It reaches people all over the world.

Noah’s diagnosis three years ago has certainly changed his life, but, in some ways, he says, it’s changed it for the better.

“So much good has come out of it, he says. “I have a different outlook on life now. It’s more about appreciating what I do have, than what I don’t have.”