Princess Kate's brother James Middleton sends message to rarely-seen goddaughter

Her condition is likely to leave her using a wheelchair as she gets older.

James's sweet message was a reaction to a recent article that saw Anouk's parents open up and raise awareness about their daughter's condition.

Alongside a screenshot of the article, James wrote: "So proud of Mike and Sophie for raising awareness of SMA and even more proud of my amazing goddaughter Anouka [red love heart emoji]."

Anouk and her family were very brave in opening up about her condition.

According to the report, in the last five years, new treatments have been approved which can stop the disease from developing if it's caught in the first few weeks of life.

However, babies are not currently tested for the condition in the UK.

James also shared a link to the official page for ACE SMA, a charity raising awareness for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Kate's younger brother often uses his platform to raise awareness for his family members and his own health struggles.

Previously he has been incredibly open about his battle with depression, and how his late therapy dog, Ella, supported him during that time.

Since she died in January last year, James has announced he is releasing a book titled: 'Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life'.

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Last month, James revealed the front cover of the new book whilst talking at the Good Woof dog festival.

James chose a special image which saw him holding Ella around his neck.

Alongside the photo, he wrote: "For fifteen years Ella carried me over the obstacles life thew at me…but in our last moments together I carried her. This photo means so much to me and I’ve chosen it to be the front cover of my upcoming book.

"It was taken by my wife Alizee on one of our last walks together. I had tears in my eyes as I knew she was getting weaker by the day. But we enjoyed every last moment we could together."