Over €9k raised for Build For The Boys

Over €9,000 was raised at a 5km fundraiser in Phoenix Park on Saturday morning in aid of two young brothers from Lucan who both live with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Conor and Dean Thompson, aged 10 and nine, are living with DMD, a progressive muscular condition that weakens their muscles gradually – no cure is available.

Treatment for the condition is not available in the Republic of Ireland either, despite the drug Givinostat being available across the border.

The Build For The Boys fund was set up in 2022 to help provide Conor and Dean with a life that is well accommodated for as they continue to grow up.

Parents Karen and Jamie noted the success of Saturday’s 5km and what the day meant for their family.

Karen said: “There’s no place like Phoenix Park when you feel a sun like that, so it was amazing.

“It wasn’t just a race but a real family day, so there was something for everyone.

‘There was a kids’ area, and there was a DJ there and music and The Last Lap Café was there, and SuperValu had given us all goody bags – it was like a festival atmosphere after the race with everyone sitting around in the park.

“But for us personally, the support – the people that were there were like family, friends, the community, but people that we didn’t know at all came along to support us.”

Build For The Boys’ main goal is to provide Conor and Dean with a home that is adapted to meet their needs.

The pair are well-liked in school and are both rather confident boys; Conor has picked up wheelchair soccer with M&F United and Dean was described by his parents as “unstoppable” – he feels he can do anything, Duchenne or no Duchenne.

The family have a home out in Newcastle after they sold their Lucan house and Karen’s parents sold their home as well.

However, despite raising over €170k through a GoFundMe in the last three-and-a-half years and more through donations sent straight to the trust, the family are still steps away from their goal of affording the adaptations.

Karen said: “We now need to do the adaptions to the house to make it wheelchair liveable, as we call it, because there’s a big difference between what’s wheelchair accessible and wheelchair liveable.

“Especially, when you have two boys, because we want their home to knock off the restrictions that they’re going to face in the real world.

“We want them to be able to go into every room . . . we’re not just building this for two young boys right now, we’re building this for the future of two young men.”