B.C. composer with debilitating condition earns recognition [Video]

Ari Kinarthy never imagined he’d become the focus of photographers on a red carpet, back when he was a boy fighting to have fun.

“It feels very frustrating to be left out of activities that my friends can do an I can’t,” Ari said when CTV News first met him a few years ago.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy was making Ari unable to play video games with his hands, until he found technology that allowed him to control the action onscreen with the movement of his breath.

“Now I can play almost any game out there and my friends can join me,” Ari said. “And we have a great time.”

But finding a pleasurable pastime couldn’t compare to discovering his true passion.

“I really just want to impact people deeply,” Ari says.

Although his condition was progressively weakening his muscles, this adaptive technology — along with music therapy — was strengthening …