MAN WITH DUCHENNE MUSCULARY DYSTROPHY Philadelphia, PA Josh Winheld is running out of time. Diagnosed at 4 ½ with Duchenne muscular dystrophy a terminal disease that causes the skeletal and heart muscles to progressively weaken, leaves most boys wheelchair bound by their teens. It is predicted that patients will die before reaching 30. There is no treatment. There is no cure. As Reed Abelson, Health Editor of The New York Times reports, “At 29 Mr. Winheld is among the oldest living Duchenne patients.” Little Treasure Books will release “Worth the Ride: My Journey with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy” on February 29th, 2008. “This book is about courage and the will to live. What it is not about is self-pity and quitting,” expresses Paula Lizzi, Marketing Director. Rather it is about the indomitable spirit of Josh Winheld who continues to meet challenges and take chances others with this disease might not. “The book, like his Winheld’s World blog, opens a window into the mind of a sensitive, hard-charging soul who happens to have used a wheelchair since age 10, and who knows that time is precious,” quotes Daniel Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Josh knows he will never get married, raise a family, have a career or live to be an old man. But these are facts tucked away for a rainy day. Until that day arrives, he welcomes each new day with the determination to overcome whatever might stand in the way of accomplishing a purposeful day. “Josh Winheld is not a man whose life revolves around a wheelchair, but whose wheelchair revolves around his life,” says publisher, Bernadette Garzarelli. “If writing this book is the only thing I ever do, I can live with that. Muscular dystrophy can take away just about everything, but through the written word it can never take away my voice!” exclaims Winheld. This young man’s voice will live on through his book and the donations from book sales that he has chosen to donate to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (parentprojectmd.org).
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