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I have decided to take the 'small' challenge of running the London Marathon! This means my weekends will now be spent running in the wet and cold weather and giving up wine... No easy feat! 

I'm running for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign which is a cause close to my heart. My little cousin, Shiv, was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy last year which is an incurable life threatening disease. 

Shiv is like most 4 year old boys, he loves Cars,Thomas the tank engine and pizza. He is great fun to be around, has the most infectious smile and is growing into an intelligent, cheeky young boy! He is the heart of our family and we were devastated when we found out he had Duchenne. 

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a condition affecting 1 in 3,500 boys and there are approximately 100 boys born in the UK each year with Duchenne. This condition means the body cannot produce enough dystrophin, a protein needed for the muscles to grow and repair. The muscles become weaker over time and most boys with Duchenne lose the ability to walk as they reach their early teens. This devastating condition leads to  breathing and heart complications which means boys like our Shiv do not usually live beyond their twenties. 

The Muscular Dystrohphy Campaign is doing  groundbreaking work to fund research projects seeking a cure for Duchenne and funding trials in the drive towards potential treatments. They require funding to progress the research and trials and make a cure available to boys with Duchenne. 

Our family, as with other families, cannot face the thought of a future without Shiv and all boys with Duchenne need your help in raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. We need to find a cure now for this life threatening condition and to prevent any more families facing a future without their son.

Please donate wherever you can as this will help the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign continue their groundbreaking work. You can find more information at www.smilewithshiv.org and thank you for taking the time to read my story and for your donation. 

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