A new bespoke double bed, which raises up and can move him to a sitting position at the touch of a switch, is helping 16-year-old George Pegg stay cheerful as he self-isolates with his family.
The smart ‘normal-looking’ bed, delivered to the Pegg family in Blyth last Friday, is a positive development at a difficult time for them, now in their third week of isolation. The bed replaces George’s previous bed, which had become too low for his family to easily lift him to do his twice daily 20-minute physiotherapy exercise. It also didn’t help him to sit up and play his favourite Call of Duty game on his X-box.
His mum Lilian said
We were devastated when we got the diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was three. But we were also given something to hang on to by Professor Bushby, who assured us that there was hope for George’s generation.
George’s Journey has been a family fund for MDUK for almost five years. During the first four years, every penny we raised went to MDUK’s Duchenne Research Breakthrough fund, in the hope of finding a cure or much-needed treatments for this condition.
This year, in light of George’s increasing needs, 20 percent of funds raised have been placed into a holding account by MDUK for George’s equipment needs. We have accessed this account for the first time to order and pay for George’s double profiling bed. We would like to thank friends, family, our local community and all at MDUK for their unwavering support.
Susanne Driffield, MDUK Regional Development Manager, North East and Cumbria said
It’s fantastic that George has taken delivery of his new bed. I’m delighted that this was possible through the tireless fundraising George’s Journey have done for MDUK.