A bit about us!

Hi, we are Lauren and Megan from the East Midlands.... one of us has Muscular Dystrophy. We are cousins and have had Muscular Dystrophy in our family for over 60 years. In January 2017 at the age of 21 one of us found out we also have Muscular Dystrophy. As you can imagine it was a shock for all the family but we have supported each other and decided to look at the positives... like the free parking!

So now a bit about me, Lauren. I was brought up by my mum who had Muscular Dystrophy and was a single parent. Throughout her life she had many illnesses as well as Muscular Dystrophy such as diabetes and having a stroke in her 30's. She had to have carers 24 hours a day and we couldn't live a normal life. On top of this she also had to put up with me being ill and having to have a pacemaker at the age of 10 - I even died and had to be resuscitated. As you can imagine it was quite hard but we managed and carried on smiling. At the age of 36 my beautiful, strong, caring mum passed away from septicaemia... I was 13 and getting ready to start my GCSE's. I moved in with my auntie, uncle and two cousins and lived a normalish life until I turned 21 and found out I also had Muscular Dystrophy, 4 more heart conditions and weak lungs. We were all devastated but it's made us stronger as a family and continue to live our lives to the fullest.

And now a bit about Megan. By 7 years of age Megan had lost two aunties to Muscular Dystrophy and had a new "sister" (me, Lauren) living with her. She had also spent a lot of her life visiting hospitals to see me when i had my pacemaker fitted and my mum, her auntie when she had her stroke. She is now 15 and getting ready to sit her GCSE's next year. We've recently found out that there is no chance she can have Muscular Dystrophy as her mum doesn't have the faulty DESMIN gene, which is great news as it means she will never have to go through what i've been through the past year and a half.

Remember Don't Worry, Be Happy

#musculardystrophy #dontworrybehappy #family #cousins #charity