A mum of three has appealed for birthday cards to be sent to her 12-year-old son who was born with a terminal condition.
William Magee, who will be 13 on August 19, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy before his second birthday. His specific condition, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), has made him wheelchair bound and dependent on others to feed him.
Despite his illness his mum Kelly, 42, wants to make his special day “the most memorable ever”. To celebrate becoming a teenager William wants to open as many birthday cards as possible.
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The last time Kelly made this appeal, for his sixth birthday, William, from Prenton, Wirral, ended up with 29,600 cards. Now his parents Kelly and Mike, 57, want to smash this record and have urged people to send letters to the Shankly Hotel, where they hope to "cover the floor" with them.
Kelly told the ECHO: “He is just a really delightful boy. William has got a cracking sense of humour.
"When William was diagnosed we thought [DMD] was a technical term for being flat footed. The specialist said to go home and enjoy [William].
“From a very young age we would talk about the future and the fact that he would use a wheelchair and how things would change. I remember him and I watching Ghostbusters, he just very openly asked me ‘am I going to die because of [DMD]'.
“It took me by surprise. I said yes DMD does take your life sooner but obviously nobody knows [about] the future."
DMD affects 100 boys per year while 2,500 people are living with the condition in the UK. According to the NHS it is one of the more common types of muscular dystrophy.
When William was seven years old Kelly put him forward to take part in a trial to identify a potential cure. Although the family were hopeful the experiment was unsuccessful and the results felt like “getting the diagnosis all over again”, according to Kelly.
In May 2019 William lost the ability to walk after he fell over and broke his leg. His situation worsened during lockdown after Covid-19 restrictions prevented him from seeing a physiotherapist and other specialists.
However William still enjoys life and has a “normal relationship” with his sister Elizabeth, 18, and brother Charles, five. His younger sibling “idolises” him and will always listen to him, according to his mum.
The 12-year-old does not go to school because of his condition so Kelly acts as his full time carer. To relax and enjoy themselves in the day the two of them regularly go to the cinema and watch the new releases.
His other interests include Marvel, watching TV and visiting the zoo. He used to love playing with Lego but his condition has made it impossible for him to move the building blocks, according to Kelly.
The Facebook page Save William, which has six thousand likes on Facebook, is decorated with pictures of the boy with celebrities such as Prince William and Prince Harry. The Wirral boy is keen to meet the British vlogger Ladbaby who he “absolutely loves”.
After his 13th birthday parents Kelly and Mike are hoping to take their son to Edinburgh Zoo but they need special medical equipment. The family is looking to invest in a hoist so they can take William to a nearby hotel.
William’s GoFundMe can be found here and his Amazon Wish List can be accessed via this link. With the help of friends and family Kelly has raised £25,000 for charities in search of a cure for DMD.
If you would like to send a birthday card to William, it can be posted to Shankly Hotel, Millennium House, 60 Victoria St, Liverpool, L1 6JD.
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