The 2019 Everest Team

My name is Natalie Annis and I am so excited to trek to Everest Base Camp in support of the Hope for Gus Foundation! Gus’s mom, Tonya, and I have been friends since middle school. Gus and the entire Dreher Family are a very important part of my life. Last year Tonya and I conquered the first half of the EBC trek, but did not have time to compete the entire trip. I can’t wait to stand at Base Camp and read the names of our boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and to send our hopes for them out into the world.

My name is Zane Annis and I am 16 years old. My family has been friends with the Dreher family for many years and I have watched Gus grow up with DMD. My mom and my sister were on the Everest to End Duchenne Team in 2017, and I am so excited to be able to go the Nepal with the 2019 team and raise funds for medical research.

Mindy Cameron has been an active member of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy community for over 15 years, ever since her youngest son was diagnosed with the condition in early 2004. She has been involved with many fundraising campaigns involving physical challenges, including a mountain climbing expedition to Mount Rainier in 2009, but the trek to Everest Base Camp is by far her greatest challenge yet. Mindy is the Advocacy Director at Little Hercules Foundation, another Duchenne non-profit with long standing ties with Hope for Gus. Never athletic by nature, Mindy is inspired to take on physical challenges solely in honor of the children and young people whose physical capabilities have been taken from them by DMD.

My name is Ross Cameron and I am a 23 year old living in Chicago. My younger brother, Christopher, has DMD. Throughout my life I have been able to volunteer my time to help raise money and awareness for my brother’s disease. I have spoken to congressional staffers, participated in the second largest student run philanthropy in the world, and served as a camp counselor to help give kids with diseases like my brother’s a summer camp experience. This year, I am pushing myself harder than ever to raise money and awareness for children with Duchenne.

My name is Isabel Dreher, I am 18 years old, and I will be trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp this November because my little brother, Gus, has Duchenne.
As we both grew up, I slowly watched his body begin to betray him more and more, losing the ability to run, get up from the floor, stand from a chair, pick something up from the ground….. and this is just the beginning. My parents started a foundation (Hope for Gus) in 2010 to raise money for medical research, however, I always felt like Duchenne was something that I had to accept that I couldn’t really do anything about.
Then in 2015, my mom created a new fundraiser, the biggest one yet, called Everest to End Duchenne. Seeing my mom go to Nepal and trek to the base camp of the tallest mountain in the world was nothing short of inspiring for me. After that trip, even though watching Gus grow weaker was still excruciating, there was almost a spark in me, knowing that I would be able to do something about it soon enough: I wanted to trek Mt. Everest……and I am going in November!

My name is Tonya Dreher, founder of the original Everest to End Duchenne and mother to Gus, age 14. Gus lives with Duchenne and is the inspiration behind every single fundraiser done through the Hope for Gus Foundation. We created the foundation after Gus’ diagnosis and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical research for DMD. ETED 2019 is my third time taking a team to trek to Everest Base Camp.

My name is Robin Lee. I am super excited to Trek to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest Base camp with my good friend Mindy Cameron, whose 17 year old son has DMD. I met Mindy only a couple of years ago when I was the Executive Director for the Muscular Dystrophy Family Foundation. She was one of the first DMD parents I met that exhibited tenacity and determination in taking an active role in seeking a cure for this terrible disease. She advocates not just for her own son, but for countless other DMD families through her work and her personal time.
I have never climbed a mountain, other than day hikes. Nonetheless, I believe the time I’ll invest to prepare for the hike and 3 weeks away from my own family and organization to potentially suffer sickness, injury and definitely pain and fatigue is nothing compared to what DMD families face daily. I believe a cure will be found in my lifetime and I’m hoping this Trek will help advance research funding through the Hope for Gus Foundation.

My name is Brock Reed from Garfield MN. I am a freelance photographer and filmmaker. I have been invited to join this journey to document the fundraising for the Hope For Gus Foundation and the CAT Foundation by climbing to base camp on Mt. Everest. All of my hobbies involve being outdoors in the elements, so I am looking forward to this new challenge.