My son Nathaniel was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 6.  The doctors say that there is no cure for this terrible disease, but in our hearts, we know God will find a cure soon.  Most children with Duchenne are wheelchair bound by the age of 12.  My husband and I were just heartbroken and full of tears when we first received news of his diagnosis. It's still difficult to hold back tears. He is our only child and he loves cats with a passion. If he had the chance, he would adopt every stray cat!
He is such a sweet and loving boy, he hugs me quite often and kisses me on the cheek every single day even if I don't ask for a kiss, even if I'm asleep, he'll come and give me a kiss good morning or good night on my cheek. He is a cuddle child and I love every minute of it! 
But meanwhile, we are spending every minute with our child, just enjoying him and living in the moment.
This summer was Nathaniel's last year to walk. We felt it coming and took him on trips and all sorts of events and adventures this summer to make the best out of his last summer walking.
This photo of my last memory of my son standing and walking on his own.
Nathaniel reached 12 years old this August.  Not too long after his 12th birthday, he lost the ability to walk on his own.  Once school began, he was in a wheel chair full time. 
I often ask God why my son, why was Nathaniel diagnosed with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy?  It is hard to see the struggles my son faces on a daily basis, while I see other kids his same age running, climbing, and bicycling. These are the things every kid should be able to enjoy.  My child should live like the other healthy children and enjoy his youth to the fullest.  Then it occurs to me as I ask Nathaniel "Why couldn't I have the disease instead of you" son and Nate's reply "Mommy, no, i don't want you to have the disease, I am fine."  This he replies in a somber voice as his thought of mommy having muscular dystrophy just aches his heart to the fullest extent.

Now we don't have accesibility for a wheelchair and I can no longer lift him into a vehicle. 
And to top it off....a driver ran a red light and totalled my car.   We are in a rental until we can get a van with handicap accessiblity, but the cost for a used handicap van is between $30,000 and $50,000. 
Nate saw a handicap van that he fell in love with but now we need to come up with at least 10% down to be able to get a loan on a handicap van. But as you can see, vans that have been modified are very pricey.
Please help to get Nathaniel in a van so we can have more mobility and ability to pick him up from school, take him to the doctor, take him to the movies and get him out of the house in his motorized chair so he can enjoy more things outside of the house.


We will need to keep this page going to include home modifications. Nathaniel's strength has declined tremendously these past two weeks that we will have to expedite bathroom modifications in our home.

We have some walls to knock out so that he can get into the bathroom with a wheelchair. Right now, his wheelchair will not fit through the doorways to get to the bathroom. We need to install roll in showers and accessible toilets.