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Leo (or Nardo as he likes to be called) is 4.  Two years ago he was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  It is a genetic muscle wasting condition.  It is progressive.  There is no cure.

Nardo is a cheeky chappie, he loves to play and "run" around with his brother Luca and his friends, and he loves to give his mum kisses and cuddles.  Cruelly, as Nardo gets older he will get weaker as his friends get faster and stronger.  Without a treatment the outlook is not good beyond the age of 20.  Sadly some boys don't even make it that far.

Whilst he finds things more difficult than his peers Nardo doesn't give up and does his best to make us proud.  It is this that gives us hope and inspires us to do things like this, to fight for him.  So along with some great friends and supporters we will be cycling 500 miles from London to Paris and back to Dieppe in 5 days to raise awareness and money to fight Duchenne.

There is hope though.  Whilst there is no treatment for Nardo there are potential drugs in early stage development.  Money raised so far has helped fund the research as well as put better infrastructure in place to allow more and better trials to be run.  It is a race against time and the faster drugs can be evaluated the sooner a treatment for all those with Duchenne can be found.  Every penny counts!

This is the bit I don't like, asking for money.  All money raised goes to Harrison's Fund, which puts money into various research projects for treatment and care.  Harrison is another of the 2,500 boys in the UK who have Duchenne.  I can't say how much I appreciate the generosity of everyone involved so far.  I continue to be touched and amazed at how people have responded and I can honestly say it has changed how I look at life and the people around me.

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