A message from Andy and Alex Johnson
Our son Jack is everything a four-year-old should be. He is cheeky, excitable and a big softy at heart. He loves to make dens, play hide and seek and wave his lightsaber like a Jedi Knight. In a few months time he will start school and cannot wait to begin his journey into the big wide world. But what our beautiful son does not yet know is that he has a terminal, incurable disease.
In October 2011 we received the shattering news that Jack has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Failing a medical breakthrough, Jack's life will follow a predetermined path, mapped out by this progressive muscle wasting condition. In short, he will no longer be able to walk by the time he reaches adolescence and will lose the use of every single muscle in his body thereafter. He may need spinal rods to keep him upright and ventilation to help him breath. Eventually his heart and lungs will fail and he will die.
There are no words to describe the utter devastation felt upon hearing that your child's life will be cut short because there is no cure. We have had the greatest pleasure watching Jack develop into the amazing boy he is today but now, unbelievably, we must prepare ourselves for his steady decline. And the worst part? Seeing him struggle as his body wastes away and being absolutely powerless to help.
Since his diagnosis, we are not ashamed to say that we have cried every day and have spent endless hours scouring the internet to find answers. Currently there is very little awareness of DMD and research into finding possible treatments is drastically underfunded. However, over the past few years, with help from charities around the world, human clinical trials have begun to take place with encouraging results. It's for this reason that we have set up our own charity, to help move things forward for Jack and other children like him.
We have always wanted a quiet family life and have never felt comfortable asking for anything but now is not the time to be proud. We cannot sit back and watch Jack ravaged by this condition if there is any chance, that we can make his future a more positive one. From the bottom of our hearts we are asking if you can help join our fight to eradicate DMD.
You can contribute by making a donation, organising an event or simply adding us onto your facebook or twitter page. Time is precious to us now and for ANY support you can give we will be eternally grateful.
They say that children with DMD accept it better than their parents but the day we tell Jack he is not well will be the toughest day of our lives. To know that we are facing a future without our beautiful son is impossible to believe. At least with your help we will be able to tell him that we gave everything we had to this fight of all fights.
Original copy
Who is Andy Johnson?
Andy Johnson signed for his home town club Wigan at the age of seventeen. He made his way up through the reserves and played close to a hundred first team games for Wigan playing both in the backs and the forwards.
AJ scored two tries on his Wigan debut and went on to play in two Premiership finals with his highlight being a try scoring appearance on the wing in 1997 at Old Trafford. In the 1997 season Andy played for Wigan in the World Club Challenge Series against their Australian counterparts scoring in the opening fixture against the Canterbury Bulldogs. He finished the season with a total of seventeen tries in 1997 which took him to 9th highest scorer in the league.
On the first day back of the 1998 season he had the misfortune of rupturing his achillies tendon and missed the whole of the 1998 campaign.
AJ then made his way to the capital after he was approached by John Monie and signed a two year deal for the London Broncos. Andy set off to london with fellow Wigan team mate John Clarke and set up home with their old team mate Shaun Edwards.
As much as Andy enjoyed the rugby he made the decision to head back up north to sign a two year deal with the Castleford Tigers. Andy played the whole season in the centres in 2000 and narrowly missed out on a Challenge Cup final appearance by losing to Wigan 20-12 in the semi-final. His playing career ended as a result of a recurring back injury 14 months into a two year contract at Salford City Reds where they narrowly missed relegation.
AJ now lives and works in his home town with his wife Alex and their two children Jack and baby James. His new focus is in raising awareness and money in order to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and, together with a dedicated group of friends from the Rugby League community and beyond, he is doing just that, one day at a time.
Original copy
No comments:
Post a Comment