Passion Meets Courage

To say I have witnessed young men and boys with Duchenne face heartbreaking challenges is an understatement. Duchenne is one of the toughest diseases in the world. That’s why when I hear words like courage, I immediately think of our boys with Duchenne.

Today I wanted to reflect on very courageous young boy who does not have Duchenne but is still a part of our Duchenne family. His name is Tyler Armstrong, and at 11 years old he bravely climbs mountains in honor of those impacted with Duchenne who never can.

those impacted with Duchenne have met and become friends with Tyler whose passionate journey to tackle mountains began at the age of 7. He has been a true inspiration to our boys and has become a symbol of hope after pledging to help CureDuchenne find a cure for his friends.

Tyler is receiving attention from all around world for his generous feat up the seven summits: the highest mountains in the world. News outlets and climbing world advocates are abuzz about his self-motivated goal to reach the top of these challenging mountains. He’s even been invited to tonight’s premier of the film “Everest” in Hollywood. Tyler’s response on how and why he does it: “I want to help find a cure for my friends… they make me climb harder because I know they can’t.”

You can read more about Tyler’s climbing records at www.ClimbtoCureDuchenne.org. For any adult to conquer these feats is great, but for Tyler to achieve them on his own pace at such a young age and is doing it for helping others cure Duchenne is truly remarkable.

Challenges are what create greatness in a person, bringing out their best in the face of adversity. For this reason is Tyler Armstrong more like his Duchenne brothers than he realizes and I see that when passion meets courage, truly amazing things, like finding a cure and climbing the highest mountain at age 11 can become a reality.

Follow Tyler Armstrong on social media and join the global support on Tyler crowdrise site at www.crowdrise.com/climbtocureduchenne.

The CureDuchenne family and I believe in you, Tyler. You’re going to make it to the top!