"I WON'T use the word 'brave' because it's a bit patronising, but you won't find many people more determined than these."
The words of Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, summed it up.
To everyone else, the young people who live with the debilitating and incurable effects of muscular dystrophy, yet always keeping a broad smile and good humour, are the very epitome of bravery.
But to them, it's simply a way of life which is not going to get in the way of hopes and dreams.
Gloucester Cathedral was full on Thursday night to mark the 10th annual Spirit of Christmas candlelit service, raising vital funds for the campaign, of which The Citizen is a proud supporter.
Guest of honour, paralympian Mel Nicholls, was unable to make it in the end, meaning Chloe Ball-Hopkins, 16, from Wotton-under-Edge, was asked to give a speech instead.
Before the service, she talked about living with her condition.
"I was diagnosed aged four, with quite a rare form," she said. "As I have grown up it means my muscles have got weaker, they just weren't growing.
"If you've grown up with it, you're used to it."
She is pursuing her dream of being a Paralympic archer and is also doing a skydive to raise money in March.
Her mum Louisa Hopkins said: "She's very inspirational, she just thinks what she does is normal in her eyes. She makes every day count."
James Pendleton, aged five and from Shurdington, is about to take delivery of his first wheelchair.
He was diagnosed at 17 months after mum Laura Andrews was concerned he wasn't hitting normal development milestones.
"The hardest thing was knowing all those things he would love to do - playing sports, riding a bike - would be taken away from him.
"But he's a very happy boy, he loves trains and he wants to be a train driver.
"I'm hopeful for the future because medical science is advancing all the time."
Find out more here.
The words of Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, summed it up.
To everyone else, the young people who live with the debilitating and incurable effects of muscular dystrophy, yet always keeping a broad smile and good humour, are the very epitome of bravery.
But to them, it's simply a way of life which is not going to get in the way of hopes and dreams.
Gloucester Cathedral was full on Thursday night to mark the 10th annual Spirit of Christmas candlelit service, raising vital funds for the campaign, of which The Citizen is a proud supporter.
Guest of honour, paralympian Mel Nicholls, was unable to make it in the end, meaning Chloe Ball-Hopkins, 16, from Wotton-under-Edge, was asked to give a speech instead.
Before the service, she talked about living with her condition.
"I was diagnosed aged four, with quite a rare form," she said. "As I have grown up it means my muscles have got weaker, they just weren't growing.
"If you've grown up with it, you're used to it."
She is pursuing her dream of being a Paralympic archer and is also doing a skydive to raise money in March.
Her mum Louisa Hopkins said: "She's very inspirational, she just thinks what she does is normal in her eyes. She makes every day count."
James Pendleton, aged five and from Shurdington, is about to take delivery of his first wheelchair.
He was diagnosed at 17 months after mum Laura Andrews was concerned he wasn't hitting normal development milestones.
"The hardest thing was knowing all those things he would love to do - playing sports, riding a bike - would be taken away from him.
"But he's a very happy boy, he loves trains and he wants to be a train driver.
"I'm hopeful for the future because medical science is advancing all the time."
Find out more here.
