“My 8 Year Old Cousin Is In A Wheelchair And I Can Not Bare To See Him Die, I Am Cycling Over 130 Kilometers A Day To
Try And Save Him”
25 year old Aucklander Luke Malley has been cycling alone over 130 km a day for the last month from Auckland to
Invercargill to try and save the life of his 8 year old cousin Jack who recently found out that he has a relatively
unheard of disease called Duchenne. Duchenene is a terminal illness, which results in muscle degeneration and eventual
death. Luke will be cycling over2850kms in total in one month and hopes to be in Invercargill by October 21st after
setting of on September 21st from Auckland.
2 years ago he stayed with his aunt Michelle and her family and after seeing the physical and emotional pain of his
family committed to raise as much money as possible to help find a cure. Little Jack was only five and had to have his
cramping legs massaged hard every night to loosen them and Luke was totally heart broken listening to him crying himself
to sleep. Recently when Luke walked up a steep hill after taking a friend to the airport in Auckland he thought how easy
it was for him and how impossible for his little cousin Jack and that he wanted to do something that would be almost as
hard himself, he worked around the clock to save up enough money to live on basic rations and set off on his bike
journeys across New Zealand’s unforgiving terrain motivated only by the thought of this currently un-curable disease
spreading its way through his innocent little cousin’s body.
“I am doing this for my cousin and all of his pals... to highlight the efforts that Action Duchenne are involved in to
try and find a cure. We hope that these children and young people can benefit now but the reality may be that future
generations will be the ones who can walk into their adulthood and live long and full lives. I have already been run off
the road by a lorry and scared myself half to death cycling through the night but if I am able to bring hope or save a
single life then it will all be worth it’, Luke, 24, Auckland.
There are 300,00 children with Duchenne worldwide. Ninety nine per cent of sufferers are male. It is a cruel and
horrible disease, and the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children around the world. Most children are in a
wheelchair by the age of 8 and die by the age of 18 years old. It is in many ways more painful then cancer and to date
no research has been funded for a cure.
Donations and messages of support can be made through https://www.facebook.com/ridingforjack or https://www.justgiving.com/Luke-O-Malley1
ENDS