Help Ricky Fight for Basic Survival

Our story is difficult to write in a poignant GoFundMe paragraph. Our story is individual and united.

 

On August 23rd, 1987 – Ricky and Michael Couture entered this world with broken arms, clavicles, club feet, lima bean-shaped heads, bones so thin and gracile they were barely viewable on x-ray, and virtually no muscle mass. Identical twins, Ricky and Michael were the 16th and 17th diagnosed cases of Multi-Core Myopathy, a very rare muscular condition that causes muscle weakness and deterioration. The doctors told us they would never walk - let alone survive. Against those odds, Michael and Ricky took their first steps when they were 5 years old, and are now 34 years old. 

We were a triad from the beginning. I was, and am their mother. Our choices in life were based on an unconventional sense of hope and courage. A promise to survive. And we have kept that promise. It would take a novel to truly depict the trials, successes, and pitfalls we have faced, for this time we have been gifted. We have never given up on hope~ yet that feeling has been superseded by helplessness. It is a hard place to be.

 

I do not want my friends who also live day by day - facing their own challenges - to worry or give more than they have. I wish no more for anything than for Ricky and Michael to have the comfort they so deserve to continue with the ARMS needed to fight this battle.

 

Ricky is facing a force that has taken his strength - his air and his quality of life. He has a trilogy ventilator, Beta Blocker medicine, and medication to ease his breathing  - and still he fights. A recent stroke put him in the hospital, and after he comes out this week has no place to go, with New Hampshire providing little to no support. I want him to have a space ~ with good clean air ~ and the comfort he needs and so deserves.

 

Love you all,

 

Riana