It’s not easy having muscular dystrophy. Aside from the unavoidable pain and aches caused from gradual muscle weakness, there is also the daily undertaking of travelling everywhere in a wheelchair which means having to wait for unnecessarily long periods of time whilst able bodied people who have forgotten they can use stairs use the toilet designated for you, having to readjust your hairstyle on a night out after drunkards think it’s acceptable to ruffle your head as you go past them and people talking to you as though you are five. Are. You. Okay? 

Our amazing friend Emma has Congenital Muscular Dystrophy and these are things she has to face regularly. Fortunately for Emma, there are some positives and that’s not just free cinema tickets and getting on the plane first. Another great thing is that she has access to the Neuromuscular Centre in Cheshire which is a very vital charity providing a number of services for people who have a range of neuromuscular conditions. Having had her condition since childhood, Emma used to receive regular physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions on the NHS, however, once reaching the age of 18 she was transferred to adult services and she found it very difficult to access long term physiotherapy sessions and was having to pay privately for hydrotherapy.  She was finally referred to the Neuromuscular centre and has been able to have specialist physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions ever since. These sessions are essential in slowing the progression of muscle weakness and managing pain.

Emma has now successfully guilt-tripped four of her friends into putting themselves through a different kind of pain in the hope to raise as much money as possible for the Neuromuscular Centre so that they can continue to provide their intrinsic service. On 14^th August Erin, Erin, Lizzie and Emma will be competing in their first ever triathlon and the four of them have been training relentlessly since the beginning of the year. Erin M has rediscovered her love/hate relationship with the gym, Erin O has realised that she cannot compete using her pretty vintage bike, Lizzie has swapped episodes of Game of Thrones for the swimming pool and Emma has realised that this will be much more of a challenge than a pleasant hike in the Welsh mountains. For the four of them, the reward is the promise of a hot tub, wine and of course, a sense of amazing achievement at the end of it. For Emma, it is continued access to an indispensable centre alongside many others who share this service on a daily basis. 

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