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Friday, 12 June 2009 |
MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
Common everyday activities are a struggle for Hope and Holly Peeples.
There are days when even the act of taking a few simple steps come with pain and agony for the two sisters.
The pair suffer from muscular dystrophy, and on Saturday, Wapakoneta Fire Department firefighters will ask residents to dig into their pockets to help Hope, Holly and the thousands across the nation stricken with the disease.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, firefighters will be outside the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Bellefontaine Street for their annual “Fill the Boot” campaign. For those three hours, firefighters will work to raise money for the Greater Miami Valley Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
To help kick off the event, MDA Coordinator Sally Patton along with Hope and Holly visited the fire department Thursday to share their story which began in the late 1980s when their father, Arlen, became ill.
“He was put into the hospital and we found out it was a muscular disease,” Hope, 40, said recalling that day. “They took a biopsy and found out he had muscular dystrophy.”
Many times the disease appears late in life and it is also hereditary. Soon after it was discovered Arlen was stricken, Hope and Holly learned they had it as well.
Arlen passed away four years ago due to complications from the disease. Now Hope and Holly can only hope a cure is just around the corner. “Ours is mostly internal,” Hope said. “The children you see on TV in wheel chairs are not as lucky as we are.
We can still walk. I’ve seen kids who have never walked a day in their lives.”
But as the years go by, life becomes more difficult for the two, they said.
Holly said she has notice her ability to walk has begun to dwindle.
“I can’t always pick my feet up,” Holly, 37, said. “I’ve got to have a brace with a spring in it to help me pick them up.”
Hope also has burning and tingling sensations in her legs.
The physical pain pales in comparison to one unfortunate reality, Hope will never have children of her own. Due to her condition, the child could be stillborn, or Hope could even lose her life in childbirth.
“I’ve wanted to have children all through life,” Hope said. “And I’ll never be able to, and that hurts. It hurts.”
The money the firefighters raise on Saturday will go on to benefit muscular dystrophy sufferers in a number of ways, Patton said.
“The money we receive goes on to provide clinical visits, money for research, flu shots, braces, wheelchairs, walkers and it provides money for the MDA summer camp for children,” Patton said.
The summer camp brings children between the ages of 8 and 21 stricken with the illness together for a variety of activities.
“The camp is a wonderful because it’s a week when the kids can go and no one can make fun of them,” Hope said. “They’re all the same way.”
This the fifth year the Wapakoneta Fire Department took part in the fundraiser as part of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). The IAFF has supported the MDA for more than 50 years. Last year firefighters raised $500 during the June fundraiser and an additional $500 in an August fundraiser.
For this event, Wapakoneta Firefighter Doug Kill has issued a goal of $750 for Saturday’s event.
Standing before Kill, Wapakoneta Fire Chief Kendall Krites and other firefighters, Hope thanked them for Saturday’s fundraiser and all they have done for her and her sister over the last five years.
“They’re our heroes,” Hope said.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 15 June 2009 )
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