Just Cause! ~ Darius Goes West

15 year old Darius Weems is becoming an inspiration to many including myself.  Darius was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystophy, the most severe form of muscular dystrophy.  Children with DMD generally experience a loss of mobility by the age of about 10 leaving them in a wheelchair and by their late teens early 20’s it will eventually take their life.  Darius is the 2nd boy in his family to be born with DMD.  He older brother tragically lost his life to the disease at the age of 19.  After his brother passed, Darius lost his mobility but gained an added urgency to keep his quality of life!

Darius is very blessed with a group of amazing friends, family, and mentors.  A group got together and decided to take Darius on a bit of an adventure….

Darius had never left his home state of Georgia, he had never seen mountains, and he had never even dipped his toes into an ocean.  This group knew that for Darius these experiences would be life changing.  Money was raised to rent a wheelchair accessible RV and pay for them to have the time of their lives going CROSS COUNTRY to LA.  They had a mission to convince MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” to customize Darius’s Wheelchair. 

Along the way to LA the “band of brothers” hit major tourist attractions and raised awareness of DMD by holding press conferences.  Many found inspiration from seeing the joy and dedication of this group.  The entire trip was taped and turned into a documentary, “Darius Goes West“, to raise awareness and funds for DMD.  All profits of the documentary are being donated to Charley’s Fund.  This is really something very different for fund-raising for DMD.  Historically, most funds raised go directly to helping pay for care costs for those family’s that need assistance.  While that is very necessary, that does not help move towards a cure.  Charley’s Fund is a non profit that directs money to research for a cure.  Major biotech and pharmaceutical companies are starting to get involved with the research and hopefully it will lead to bringing DMD therapies to the market. 

 ”Darius Goes West” is a must see documentary! No review I can give would do it justice but I will say that your heart strings will be pulled.  You’re going to laugh, and most likely cry, and I can guarantee that you’ll be glad you did!

You can buy the DVD by going www.dariusgoeswest.com