Jo Bridgeman went to University with William's Mum (also Jo). Here is their story:

"William, our beautiful, caring, funny, articulate little boy was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in January 2016 at just 3 years old.

Duchenne MD is one of the most common fatal genetic disorders to affect children around the world. 1 in 3500 boys are affected with DMD. It is a devastating, progressive and currently incurable muscle-wasting disease. Duchenne results in progressive loss of strength and is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes for dystrophin, a protein that plays a key structural role in muscle fibre function. Boys with DMD do not produce dystrophin.

Life expectancy is improving as standards of care and knowledge about Duchenne increase however, there is currently no cure for Duchenne.

As a family we had never heard about this condition, and we are still learning.

We want to raise awareness of William and Duchenne – we need a cure, but we also need to ensure a fabulous life for our boy too so we set up Defending William Against Duchenne in January 2018.

Thank you Jo for supporting our cause"