Tonya (Bakewell) Dreher ’92 knew she was made for something more when her son Gus was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. After graduating from Concordia, Dreher was an English teacher for 12 years until her youngest was diagnosed with Duchenne. She soon realized that her life’s calling was perhaps a little different than she had… Read More »
Tonya Dreher wanted to do something dramatic on behalf of Hope for Gus, the New Hampshire-based foundation inspired by her son, Gus, 14, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In 2015, frustrated with her fundraising efforts on behalf of DMD research, she came up with the idea of Everest to End Duchenne. “I was trying to… Read More »
The Hope for Gus Foundation and its signature Everest to End Duchenne fundraising trek to Mount Everest Base Camp have raised $100,000 to fund new gene-editing research that could lead to new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The nine-member U.S. Everest to End Duchenne team is led by Tonya Dreher, mother of Gus Dreher,… Read More »
As the group of nine New Hampshire residents neared the Mount Everest base camp, the air was thin. Every movement took more effort than usual. It’s a small taste of what life is like for Gus Dreher of Peterborough. Gus has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative genetic disorder that can be carried by females but… Read More »
Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp also boosts awareness for rare and fatal disease that impacts 1 in 3,500 boys every year Peterborough, NH – Led by Tonya Dreher of Peterborough and just home from a three-week fundraising trek to Nepal, nine people from across the U.S. raised $100,000 to fund new gene editing research… Read More »
Independent film award program bestows honors to New Hampshire film detailing a mother’s trek to Mount Everest in honor of her son with fatal Duchenne muscular dystrophy Into the Wind: Everest to End Duchenne, a short documentary by Dave Welton of Animality Productions chronicling a 2015 trek to Mount Everest to raise funds for a… Read More »
We’ve never been closer to a treatment for DMD. Every dollar we receive for ETED goes directly to supporting gene therapy. Specifically, we donate all the funds we raise to the renowned University of Texas UT Southwestern Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center through Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) where scientists recently made a breakthrough… Read More »
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare and fatal muscle-wasting illness that affects one in 3,500 boys in the world. Its victims are young – many don’t live past age 18, and those who do are often in wheelchairs due to the degenerative nature of the disease. Treatment and perhaps even a cure are on… Read More »
Hope for Gus Foundation hikes to Mount Everest Base Camp on September 25 to raise funds for medical research Because of significant research breakthroughs in CRISPR, a new technology has the potential to correct mutations that cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (referred to as DMD or Duchenne). Tonya Dreher, director of the Hope for Gus Foundation… Read More »
A heartbreaking farewell to Joshua, a young boy with DMD A few weeks ago, the Duchenne community received a painful blow. A young boy named Joshua, not quite 12 years old, passed away from heart failure. When our children are diagnosed, the doctors say that their projected life span is early to mid 20’s. Some men with… Read More »
