Walled Lake Central student council hosting fundraiser for 10-year-old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

By MONICA DRAKE - monica.drake@oakpress.com; Twitter: @monica_adele

Walled Lake Student Council is hosting a dinner benefit for Commerce Township resident Joseph Penrod, 10, (left) who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, in order to help make his home accessible. He is pictured with his mother Marissa.

By the age of 5, most children spend time running, jumping and skipping so Commerce Township resident Marissa Penrod knew something was wrong when her son couldnt do these things.

In 2008, Joseph Penrod, now 10, was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is the most common progressive degenerative muscle disease in boys. Although he can stand on his own, Joseph, a fourth-grader at Oakley Park Elementary, spends most of his time traveling by scooter.

My first reaction when he was diagnosed was fear. ... But I made a commitment within days of his diagnosis that we would have to do everything we could to change the future of it, said his mother.

Penrod created the nonprofit Team Joseph shortly after her sons diagnosis in hopes to find a cure for the disease.

Last year, almost $300,000 was donated through the organization toward medical research at Phrixus Pharmaceuticals in Ann Arbor and at the universities of Michigan, Washington, Minnesota and Iowa.

Science has uncovered things recently leading us much closer to a treatment. So, I thought, Wow, if theres a possibility, I need to make sure we do our part and try to help with that, Penrod said.

You cant always choose what youre handed, but you can choose how you handle it. I would love if Joseph didnt have Duchenne. But thats just not an option. So I dont spend a lot of time focusing on that or complaining. I just focus on, OK, what do we do now.

Read the rest here:
Walled Lake Central student council hosting fundraiser for 10-year-old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy