From 2 pounds, 12 ounces to an active 16-year-old soccer player, Ryan Wlodyka has never let life’s challenges stop him from achieving greatness.

Born early at just 28 weeks, Ryan suffered an in-utero brain bleed that caused cerebral palsy, a group of disorders affecting movement and muscle tone. He spent 44 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital before going home.

But there is no cure for cerebral palsy. Ryan’s condition causes physical delays in his development. He suffers from muscle spasticity, which means that his muscles tend to tighten up. Yet at 5 years old, he kicked around a soccer ball with two casts on his legs, igniting a fire inside of him. With medical support from the team at Levine Children’s and his own self-determination to strengthen his body each day, Ryan is able to do the thing he loves most – play soccer!

Ryan now plays on a national level for the US Cerebral Palsy Soccer National Team. This summer, he will proudly represent his country and all those with cerebral palsy at the 2025 International Federation of CP Football (IFCPF) Club World Cup.

Watch more of Ryan’s story here.

To celebrate his fighting spirit and love for soccer, Charlotte FC and Atrium Health invited Ryan to create a scarf to inspire fans that will be given out at our April 26 match. Ryan chose the saying “Be 1% better at something every day” – his personal mantra and what he hopes to encourage others to do.

According to Ryan, it doesn't matter what that something is - eating better, getting better grades, training, etc. - building 1% every day compounds the effort!

His scarf design includes this message in Ryan’s own handwriting, along with the handwriting of so many others who have been a part of Ryan’s journey.

His parents, his soccer team and members of his care team all contributed. And so did his siblings, Mary, Jack, and Sam, who saw firsthand how special nurses truly are during Ryan's health journey. Now all three siblings are nurses themselves and in a full circle moment, Mary and Jack both work at Levine Children's Hospital – the very same place that saved their brother’s life.