An advertising man is spreading a disabled boy’s message across the UK to raise awareness of muscular dystrophy. DAVID MILLS finds out more about the campaign.
SIX-YEAR-OLD Bradley Addison has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable condition which causes the muscles to weaken and waste away.
Thanks to advertising man Peers Carter, a hard-hitting poster of Bradley sat in a wheelchair with the words ‘He’d love to walk away from this poster too’ is being displayed at more than 1,000 poster sites across the country.
Peers has been involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign since 1977, when he first created a similar poster of another young boy suffering from the same condition.
More than 30 years later, he has recreated the same poster but this time featuring Bradley.
The photo was shot in a field near Peers's house in Dale Road, Southfleet.
Father-of-three Peers got in touch with the charity to get hold of the old poster as he was doing a memorial piece on a colleague who helped design it.
The 63-year-old said: “That led to them going to Tesco who made the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign their charity of the year.”
Asked how he came up with the line in the poster, he said: “I have no idea, they just come to me when I’m least expecting it, such as in the bath.
“This boy is full of life, he wants to have fun but is stuck in this wheelchair. Yet I’m walking away and don’t feel too good about it. I would like life to improve for him.
“It has the same impact on me.
“The first time I saw it I thought that’s strong.”
Peers added: “It’s a real pleasure to donate my time to this cause.
“Not enough people know about muscle disease and how devastating an impact it can have for children like Bradley.
“I hope that people take notice and help support the charity’s work.”
The director of marketing and fundraising at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Abby Mardon, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Peers and his art director, Tony Muranka, for their support of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and dedication to help us create an amazing campaign.
“It’s vitally important that we tell the stories of children like Bradley who deserve a chance to have a better quality and length of life.”
WHAT IS MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY (MD)?
- There are more than 30 types of MD, a hereditary condition which causes the muscles to weaken and over time leads to increasing disability.
- Duchenne is the most common and severe form of MD, which usually affects boys and is diagnosed at around three years of age with initial symptoms beginning in the leg muscles before progressing to other muscles.
- If the disease spreads to the heart or breathing muscles it can become life-threatening.
- More than 70,000 babies, children and adults in the UK have MD or a related condition. There are 5,000 living with muscle disease in the south east.
- A further 350,000 people are affected indirectly as family, friends or carers.
- Children suffering from Duchenne MD may be in a wheelchair by the age of 10 and the condition can be life-threatening by 30.
- While there is no cure to MD, treatment at limiting its effects includes physiotherapy, exercise, physical aids and medication to improve muscle strength.
- For more information visit muscular-dystrophy.org
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