Kiwi Cycles over 130 kms A Day To Save His 8 Year Old Cousin

“My 8 Year Old Cousin Is In A Wheelchair And I Can Not Bare To See Him Die, I Am Cycling Over 130 Kilometers A Day To Try And Save Him”

25 year old Aucklander Luke Malley has been cycling alone over 130 km a day for the last month from Auckland to Invercargill to try and save the life of his 8 year old cousin Jack who recently found out that he has a relatively unheard of disease called Duchenne. Duchenene is a terminal illness, which results in muscle degeneration and eventual death. Luke will be cycling over2850kms in total in one month and hopes to be in Invercargill by October 21st after setting of on September 21st from Auckland.

2 years ago he stayed with his aunt Michelle and her family and after seeing the physical and emotional pain of his family committed to raise as much money as possible to help find a cure. Little Jack was only five and had to have his cramping legs massaged hard every night to loosen them and Luke was totally heart broken listening to him crying himself to sleep. Recently when Luke walked up a steep hill after taking a friend to the airport in Auckland he thought how easy it was for him and how impossible for his little cousin Jack and that he wanted to do something that would be almost as hard himself, he worked around the clock to save up enough money to live on basic rations and set off on his bike journeys across New Zealand’s unforgiving terrain motivated only by the thought of this currently un-curable disease spreading its way through his innocent little cousin’s body.

“I am doing this for my cousin and all of his pals... to highlight the efforts that Action Duchenne are involved in to try and find a cure. We hope that these children and young people can benefit now but the reality may be that future generations will be the ones who can walk into their adulthood and live long and full lives. I have already been run off the road by a lorry and scared myself half to death cycling through the night but if I am able to bring hope or save a single life then it will all be worth it’, Luke, 24, Auckland.

There are 300,00 children with Duchenne worldwide. Ninety nine per cent of sufferers are male. It is a cruel and horrible disease, and the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children around the world. Most children are in a wheelchair by the age of 8 and die by the age of 18 years old. It is in many ways more painful then cancer and to date no research has been funded for a cure.

Donations and messages of support can be made through https://www.facebook.com/ridingforjack or https://www.justgiving.com/Luke-O-Malley1

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