About Us

On the 1^st January 2002 our beautiful baby boy Gavriel Meir was born. He was a true delight and we loved him desperately from the moment we met him. For four and a half years we watched him thrive and grow, enjoying the milestones he achieved with amazement and wonder. Concerns only emerged when Gavriel started to get nightly leg cramps, however a paediatric consultant quickly put our concerns to rest. When the pain continued a visit to the physiotherapist highlighted his enlarged calf muscles and we were referred for further tests. Results from a simple blood test lead quickly to him having a muscle biopsy and just a few weeks later on the 1^st August 2006 we were hit by the devastating news that our son had Duchenne Muscular dystrophy.

We were told that Gavriel has a severe progressive and fatal muscle wasting disease and that he was likely to be confined to a wheelchair between the ages of 9 and 13. The shocking news continued with the consultant telling us that DMD sufferers are left fighting for their lives as the muscles of their lungs and heart deteriorate. As a result Gavriel's life expectancy could be shortened to his late teens or at best early 20's. It's at this point that you wait breathless to hear what operation or medicine the doctors will need to prescribe to make your child better and this is when we were told the most shattering news of all. At present there is NO treatment or cure for this devastating condition and it claims the lives of 100 children every year.

Following Gavriel's Diagnosis, our extensive investigations revealed that over the last few years there have been developments for potential treatments for the disease. In 2006 Professor Muntoni, Head of the Paediatric Neuromuscular Centre at Imperial College London said that "Even 5 years ago it would have been impossible to think about treatments. Now we are not only thinking about it but hopeful that we may be able to produce something in the next 10 years".

Whilst this news was hopeful the time period of ten years is just TOO LONG! Gavriel is now 8 years old and he like other boys with DMD does not have the luxury of just accepting this suggested time frame. We realized we would have to do something to speed up this process if we had any chance of saving our son.

In May 2007 we set up the Gavriel Meir Trust  to raise vital funds and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. We needed to take urgent action to raise money to support vital research into this life threatening disease.

Every day that passes is another day closer to the inevitable outcome of this terrible condition and we have to stop the inevitable from happening. There is now enough evidence to suggest that we are on the verge of a major breakthrough. However, we are truly in a race against time and we have to support and push the medical world to increase their efforts in research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to find a cure for Gavriel and 1000's of others like him before it is too late.

Thank you for visiting our site.

Kerry & Doron
(Gavriel's Mum and Dad)