PUPILS' PARTY AIDS PEOPLE WITH MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Fund-raising lock-in yields more than $3,000 for research and treatment.

There are many ways a person can help ill children. The act can be simple _ such has holding the door open for them or donating money.

One group of kids had a different idea _ they threw a party.

At Eastwood Middle School in Washington Township last spring, 130 kids raised funds for muscular dystrophy patients by participating in a lock-in _ a giant nightlong party held at the school.

In addition to raising more than $3,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the kids also showed support for one of their classmates who has the disease.

The overnight event, which cost the school $35, was organized by eight students and two parents. There were games, food, dancing and an appearance by Crystal, a disc jockey from WZPL-FM (99.5). Merchants donated the prizes, which included coupons for free pizzas and limousine rides.

More than one reason

Any student donating at least $15 could go to the lock- in. The students raised money by going door to door, donating their allowances or soliciting contributions from friends and family.

Some kids went to the lock-in to party, others to help.

"I'm participating in the lock-in because I want to see all my friends," said Rhonda Smith, 13.

"My point of view is, we really need to raise money for these people," said John Holden, 13.

The lock-in had special meaning for one student. Ryan McDonald, now in seventh grade, has muscular dystrophy.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association helps Ryan and many other patients pay for physical therapy, wheelchairs, leg braces and other needs. In some cases, braces alone can cost $3,000.

"(Doctors) told my mother that I was not going to make it past 2 years old," said Ryan, now 12. "But so far, we've proved them wrong."

Ryan appeared to be a healthy infant, but his family became concerned when he failed to crawl. At age 1, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

"To be told that your child has this . . . and could die _ that's a devastating thing to anybody," his mother, Paula McDonald, told Children's Express.

There are more than 40 types of muscular dystrophy. Ryan has spinal muscular atrophy. Since his diagnosis, he has used a wheelchair and slept in an iron lung, a chamberlike respirator that encloses the whole body except the head, in order to induce normal breathing movements.

He was the Muscular Dystrophy Association's poster child in 1991 and a master of ceremonies during the Labor Day telethon this year.

Despite Ryan's condition, the family isn't much different from anyone else's. Ryan goes to school, volunteers at The Children's Museum and, this school year, is manager of his school's football team.

"But how we're different is that when Ryan's sick, everything else has to come to a standstill and we have to deal with that illness at the time," his mother said.

For someone with muscular dystrophy, even a cold or the flu can be severe. Ryan's respiratory system is weak and so he is more prone to colds, which can develop into pneumonia.

Beating the odds

His mother believes that modern medication is what has helped Ryan beat the odds that his first doctors gave him.

"Sometimes we can't do things because Ryan is sick," his mother said. "But you can see we don't differ from most families. Ryan's a charming child, like most children."

Ryan wants to be treated like anyone else. He said sometimes people are "too nice _ you know, where they do everything for you _ which is something I really hate."

But most of the time they treat him like an equal.

He said the hardest thing about the disorder is "just getting around, hoping you run into the right people who aren't going to discriminate against you, which doesn't really happen anymore to people in a wheelchair."

Though there are mild forms of muscular dystrophy, the disease also kills some of its victims.

"I know my life isn't going to last forever," Ryan said before the lock-in. "You know, nobody's is. But if I were to die before there was a cure . . . , I would just be happy knowing that I'm helping someone else that's going to get muscular dystrophy."

If you are interested in further information or projects to help people with muscular dystrophy, you can contact the Muscular Dystrophy Association at (317) 298- 9640.