I.-'.'* i t A


Thursday, June 26th, 2008 No. 6,360 newfs INSIDE THIS WEEK


and views from the Centre of the Kingdom www,


.ciither6eadvertiser.co.uk Price 65p time


EXCLUSIVE by.Faiza” Afzaal


THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS-SEE INSIDE


H A P P Y s c h o o lb o y Ben; M o o n e y i s l ik e a n y othe r


seven-year-old. The fun-loving youngster


enjoys attending St Mary’s •Primary School, Langho,


. playing with his friends'and h is four-year-old brother,


Jacob. ■ •Blit his parents, Bemie (40) / er he could have this cruel dis-


; ease. However, we soon began to notice he was not as strong, fast and active as his peers. “He wasn’t walking and his


balance was ppor. He , was unable to pull himself up. ' “Previously we were told he • ■ is j ust a lazy child, however., Rachel suspected something •"'was wrong and h in ted Ben b e ;


' referred to sen a specialist a t , Royal Blackburn Hospital. “ After a simple’ blood test,


•and Rache l MooneyK38), have fears for Ben’s future md - are facing a race against tiine


■ to ensure .their little boy lives ^ : as normal a life as possible.


Ben suffers from Duchenne


Muscular Dystrophy (D.MD) - a rare, degenerative muscu-.


‘ lar wasting disease that ^fects


only boys. I t is pa r t icu la r ly cruel


healthy toddlers. Ben was bom a normal child


FREE VAUEY MAGAZINE


with a healthy birth weight of 81b 2oz.


; For the first two'years of his


life, Bernie and Rachel, of Clayton-le-Dale; had no idea';


that anything might be wrong with their son. •


• ' ;■ , “He was bora a normal and;


■ h e a lth y child, always gig-r gling,” said Bernie, assistant headteacher at Blakewater College, Blackburn. •- “.Things were going great 'and we had no idea whatsoev-


COOKING UP A Slop !


because it is usually diagnosed in pr ev iou s ly apparently ;


we were told the devastating news that our little boy is suf-- fering from DMD.’’ •:


;'


He,added: “We were com-; pletely devastated and could- ‘ n’t comprehend what the doc­


tors were telling u s . , . “We had never heard of the. condition. J t was heartbreak­


ing and a very-tough time for


^usall.’^;;;::-';.;, . The couple were dealt a dev­


astating blow when doctors


told them that their son had a ' short life expe ctan cy .and . could end up possibly paral­


ysed in his early 20s. ■ ■. • “I f was devastating at the!


. time.Ht has been difficult for, the family, to come to terms.


. with the illness, biit you have. to deal with i t and move on.


• You go to work aind hope that •' one of the pupils you teach is


going to bGcom© e gGnius sci- entist and find a miracle cure.”


“You go to work an d hope tha t one of the pupils you teach is going to become a ^ -genius scientist and find a miracle cure.


FAMILY NOTICES ...PAGES 18,19,1 AT YOUR SERVICE ...PAGES 6,7 @ VILLAGE NEWS... PAGES,,, MR and Mrs


j Mooney,above, . with Ben and . ■


Valley MP Mr - Nigel Evans',


Jacob and right, • Mr Mooney with


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. . • ' . ' a I iT ^ f i io h 'R e t iaO e ^


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