Memphis White, 9, has recently received a bike from Kinsmen Telemiracle, and he couldn't be happier about it.

"The handle bars are really easy to steer," he said, showing off the bike he received a week ago.

Memphis was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was four years old. Despite his illness, which is only found in males and results in muscle degeneration and eventually death, Memphis is a happy, spirited boy.

"He's a character. He's got a great sense of humour. He brightens up everybody's day," said Mandy White, Memphis' mother.

Normal pedal bikes are too difficult for Memphis to operate be
cause of his muscle weakness.
"He was made fun of, with the training wheels," said White.

Last year, the family was able to borrow a bike from Wascana Rehabilitation Centre that allowed Memphis the easy mobility he was denied by regular pedal bikes.

"He could keep up. He's never been able to pedal a bike, because of his weakness," said White. "He went everywhere with it and he could keep up with us."

White was encouraged by employees from Wascana to apply to Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation for a bike for Memphis.

When she returned to Estevan, she was approached by a local Kinsmen.

"Dave Elliott had called me and said that he had talked to some people who had said that I wanted to put in an application. So I said, 'Well a bike would be good.' So Dave came here, and he did the whole application process with me and sent it off," said White.

"He kept in touch and he said 'We're going to get this child a bike' and he did."

The bike will grow with Memphis, fitting him now at its smallest setting up until he is an adult. It allows him to keep up with his family and friends and gives him the mobility of children without the disease.

White said that raising a child with muscular dystrophy can be difficult at times. She explained that simple tasks like climbing the stairs or getting into a vehicle can be very challenging.

"It's a lot of help lifting," said White. "They just don't have the strength because it deteriorate; basically just the getting around."

White said that most people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a lifespan of 20 years. However, she is very optimistic and positive about Memphis' future.

"He's my little scientist. He knows so much about bugs and rocks and everything," she said, before expressing that she hoped Memphis would someday get to go to college.

White pointed out that the Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation has money to give away to people that need it, like Memphis. She said that often people assume that if they have received a donation in the past, they can't apply again. However, Telemiracle assured her that that is not the case and that, if someday Memphis needed a lift for a wheelchair, they could be there to help out.

"If the need is still there, the money can still be there too," she said.