A Lambertville family says their son who has a rare degenerative disease was treated at a Philadelphia hospital.

Ryan and Brittany Woods say their son, Chase, was born with spinal muscular atrophy.

It is a genetic condition that involves the loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord. One in every 50 people are carriers of SMA, including the two parents.

“He has SMA type 2, there are different types. There aren't too many symptoms at first,” said Ryan Woods.

The family took Chase to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment.

“He received the gene transfer therapy at about 13 months old,” said Dr. Sabrina Yum, pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “Chase has made steady progress; he's still requiring a lot of therapy because he was diagnosed later.”

In June, Chase started Evrysdi, the first and only at-home treatment for SMA. Since starting Evrysdi, Chase has been making progress with physical therapy.

He’s started sitting unassisted, pushing himself in a wheelchair and standing with his braces on.

For a time, New Jersey was one of the only states that wouldn't do genetic testing for SMA. This has now changed.