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My friend Lisa and her family have had a tough Summer to say the very least. They thought that their son Luke (age 4) just needed a physio. He wasn't running or climbing stairs like his brother was at his age but they certainly didn't think anything serious was wrong. To go from that mind set to then finding out that he had a progressive muscle wasting disease - where there is currently no cure -rocked their world. Life suddenly looked very different and it took everything they had to get up in the morning and continue being parents. 

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a rare muscle wasting condition affecting mainly boys. It decreases their life expectancy because it hits all muscles like heart and lungs as well as the ones that provide limb movement. 

The only thing that kept Lisa and her family positive was the doctor telling them not to give up hope because the medical advances in this area are progressing at a rapid rate with emerging treatments on the horizon. This work can only continue with the charity donations made through organisations like Muscular Dystrophy UK and all the work they do raising the profile of the disease. They are funding a number of exciting research projects and clinical trials but each project costs around £6,000 a month to fund. Some of these potential treatments are aimed at slowing down the progressions and keeping the boys mobile for longer, but research being led by people like Prof Dame Kay Davies even aims for a cure of this horrible disease. 

The hope is that with the money raised, Luke and other boys will be able to turn around and say "I used to have Muscular Dystrophy