(bright music) - [Dara] Playing video games aren't just what they do.

- Yeah, we're both in here together.

- For the McAtees- - He's a cranky Kong.

- [Dara] It's a part of who they are.

- It's competitive, thrilling.

I'm in there, my heart's beating.

It can get real sometimes.

- Checkpoint.

- Which means it can also get intense.

- We'll even kick people outta the group if they're not carrying their weight.

You gotta get outta the kitchen if you can't take the heat.

- [Jarrod] It is dangerous.

There's fishies.

- [Dara] And just a little loud.

Nobody's dying.

- But oh.

- [Dara] It's how they've always shown their love for one another.

- I remember when my kids were little, we would sit and play like big MMO games.

- [Dara] And moments of love like this have meant a lot more to Jarrod since March, 2019.

- Tiredness just like very tired compared to other people.

Like, I swear I could sleep forever.

You feel kind of weak some days.

It's like my muscles don't kind of feel like I'm lifting right.

- [Dara] He's talking about some of the daily struggles he's faced since being diagnosed at 18 with multiple sclerosis, the disease where the immune system attacks the protective covering of nerves.

- One day I just woke up and it was just, I couldn't see.

It was just kinda like you could see, I could see out of one eye perfectly fine.

I could see out the other eye perfectly fine, but when I had both eyes open, it was just two of everything.

And so I went to my mom and was just like, "Hey, I can't really see."

It was kind of just a kind of moment of just like, I don't know what's happening, but something's not right.

- [Dara] After getting an MRI on his brain, he received results he never saw coming.

- It was pretty scary, just kinda like seeing what happened to my grandfather kind of growing up and not being able to move and kind of the state he was in.

- [Dara] According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, nearly 1 million people in the US are living with the disease.

Although symptoms look different for each person, some include cognitive changes, vision problems, and fatigue.

- There's a potential genetic predisposition.

So you may have inherited a gene or series of genes where you are again, more likely to develop MS, but not guaranteed.

There's environmental factors, childhood obesity, low vitamin D, cigarette smoke exposure.

- [Dara] Experts like Piedmont Healthcare neurologist Matthew Carraro say there's no way to prevent MS and people of all backgrounds should be mindful.

- It is historically more common in people of Northern European ancestry or descent.

African Americans can still get MS. People of Middle Eastern descent, people from Africa, people all over the world can get MS. - [Dara] Dr. Carraro says there are over 20 treatment options like injections you can give yourself, pills and IVs you can get at infusion centers.

Research shows about 25% of MS patients need wheelchairs at some point in their lives.

- Most of our patients who are diagnosed early and accurately, they go on to be very successful in their lives and do the things that they want to do.

- [Dara] Jarrod is the perfect example of this.

24 years old living out his dream as a software engineer.

- Coding is really just like a fulfillment.

I think specifically in the context of my job, it's like the feeling of like completing something.

- [Dara] It's a career he was being prepared for as a student on the T-Rex 4935 Robotics Team at Olympic High School.

- I joined the team and and kind of fell in love with coding and kind of doing everything that way with the robotics team and just kind of really building some core group of people around me.

- [Dara] And as Jarrod's passion for robotics grew, the same thing happened for someone else in his life.

- I thought it was like "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots," and I went to their first competition and sat in this high school arena and saw these kids and these massive robots that were moving and throwing balls.

And I was like, "That's actually really freaking cool."

- [Dara] From there, Melissa was hooked.

She went from bringing snacks to support her son.

- That's a dinosaur.

- To now serving as the co-lead mentor 10 years later.

- She's just very loving, a huge role model.

She makes you feel like you're meant to be here.

She teaches me a lot.

- She brings the energy and she gets us really motivated to do, for us to do what we love.

And without her, I don't think this would be a thing and I don't think I would be here.

- So Melissa, knowing that your son came through the same program, what does it mean watching these kids thrive and do their thing here now?

- It's amazing and I'm super proud of them because they are learning skills that most adults don't have at a high school level and it's setting them up for success beyond my wildest imagination.

- [Dara] As she pours into students every Monday through Saturday, it reminds her of how mentors like Greg Saul poured into her son Jared when he was in the program.

- He really has excelled.

I mean, he was excelling even back then.

Where he's come from since then is just mind blowing, what he's done accomplished.

- [Dara] And Jarrod keeps the cycle of giving back alive, frequently visiting the T-Rex team to coach students.

- Just like seeing that you were in that position at one time and how you can kind of like you grew up to this and just kinda like seeing the fulfillment of like what will they be.

- [Dara] Jarrod isn't letting MS stop him from enjoying- - Funky Mode.

- Funky Mode.

- [Dara] And making a difference with technology.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.