Steve Gleason Is Married With Kids — “I Am the Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth”

Former New Orleans Saints safety Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS in January 2011.

Through his many ups and downs, his wife Michel has been by the famed athlete's side.

Indeed, although Steve has faced health challenges many people would see as insurmountable, he remains steadily positive. With love and support in his life, the married dad considers himself to be a very lucky man. Read on for details.

Steve played for the Saints from 2000-2008, ending his historic career the same year he said "I do" to his wife, Michel.

It was three years later that the NFL legend received a devastating diagnosis: It was ALS, a terminal neuromuscular disease, according to his organization's website.

To help others facing futures with ALS feel less alone and uplifted, Steve and Michel formed Team Gleason.

Despite their very positive attitude and commitment to help Steve thrive, their journey has not been without very significant challenges — not that they see things that way!

In 2016, Michel opened up about finding out she was pregnant with the couple's first child around the time of her husband's diagnosis.

“He had this terminal diagnosis, but we felt like we could walk on water," she said on Good Morning America. "I just remember it was one of the happiest moments of both of our lives. Just knowing … we were going to have a baby, and this is going to happen.”

Baby Rivers was born in 2011.

His sister, Gray, joined the family in 2013.

Meanwhile, Michel has remained a steadfast source of support for her husband, who relies on a ventilator to breathe and a computer to talk.

About his book, A Life Impossible, she gushed, "It's a big deal. The dude can't type, and he writes a book. It's a remarkable feat."

Michel added, "What we all went through was one of the most difficult things we've ever been through, having to kind of relive our whole story and then the physical toll it took on him to write a book with his eyes, and the emotional toll on all of us."

Indeed, as Steve shares in his book, "I type with my eyes, letter by letter, using eye tracker technology because I can no longer move, talk, or breathe on my own."

As Steve shares in his book, he has never been able to hug Rivers or Gray.

"I learned that my wife, Michel, was pregnant a few weeks after I was diagnosed with ALS on Jan. 5, 2011, and ever since, the condition has prevented me from enjoying some of the things that ordinary people might take for granted. Like, say, hugging," he heartbreakingly writes.

Steve goes on to pen that his kids are the reason he keeps going. "Being an active and involved parent has been the most important commitment in my life, but in addition to providing enormous joy and inspiration, it can be a deep source of pain," the Saints alum continues.

He also admits, "At times there can be a sense of fear that I am not a good enough dad, that I am somehow unworthy."

But as Steve also relatably imparts, we all feel that we aren't good enough. In this remarkable instance, and so many others he shares on social media, Steve reminds us we aren't that different, but also, he inspires us to be so thankful for breath and life.