Elie Eid has one wish.
He wishes that he could tell his 12-year-old son Emilio, and other families like his, that there is a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
That’s the reason he founded Save Our Sons, a charity raising funds for a cure for the muscle-wasting condition that affects one in 3500 boys, including Emilio.
The condition is the number one genetic killer of young boys worldwide. There is no cure. Affected children normally require a wheelchair between the age of seven and 12, and most do not live past their mid-twenties.
Mr Eid, and many others, passed through Werribee last week on an 11-day, 300 kilometre walk, to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne.
For parts of the walk, Mr Eid pushed Emilio in his wheelchair.
“Pushing the wheelchair is a particularly important part of the walk for me, as it signifies the difficult truth families such as mine face every day,” Mr Eid said.
Funds raised will go towards clinical research and be used for medical equipment to improve the quality of life of affected children. They also hope to fund the employment of a specialist nurse in every children’s hospital in Australia.
The walk, sponsored by Chemist Warehouse, started at the Queen Victoria Market on March 21, and will wrap up at Crown on April 1. Chemist Warehouse staff are joining the team on the walk.
